Eight Years Later
by I.write.what.I.write
Summary: After high school the gang have gone their seperate ways but fate somehow brings them together once again to heal old wounds, clear out misunderstandings and reignite a couple of old flames.
1. Chapter 1

**Eight years later**

Chapter 1

_December, 2012._

The front door to the Sunset Arms turned on its rusted hinges producing a loud creaking noise. It's been years since anyone has set foot in this place, Pookie passed away four years ago and Phil not long after leaving the Packard and the boarding house to his only grandson.

Arnold decided he'd visit his grandparents graves before heading to San Lorenzo to spend the holidays with his parents there but his visit to his grandparents filled his heart with guilt. Guilt over how in the years he's gone to college they've been seeing less and less of him until their time to leave came.

As he stepped into the abandoned house memories from his childhood seemed to flood in creating in his mind pictures brighter than the reality in front of him at that moment. He remembered the constant bickering between grandpa and the other boarders when they played chess, the parties, the conversations over dinner. There rarely has been a silent moment in this place.

He half-expected his grandmother to step out with some costume on impersonating whatever that outfit represented when he walked by the kitchen. As he climbed up the still stable stairs and passed by what used to be Suzie and Oskar's room he remembered one morning fourteen years ago waking up to find that Suzie has kicked her sorry excuse for a husband out and wanted a divorce; for the first time in his life he wasn't bothered to help sort things out for someone in need.  
Suzie was doing what everyone wished she would do, throw out the trash in her life.

Arnold finally reached the part of the house he wanted to see the most. His room. He carefully walked up the makeshift stairs being careful not to put too much of his weight in each step for fear it might break down.

The room seemed spacious from the lack of furniture and a faint light from outside seeped in through the very dirty skylight roof. The same skylight roof he'd spent his younger years looking out of and daydreaming. That skylight roof where he watched the skies change from dusk to dawn throughout the seasons, that skylight where he spent hours staring at with his girlfriend lying beside him.

_Ex-girlfriend…_

Arnold stepped out of the house and decided he'd walk around the neighborhood and see what's changed and what's remained.

The spot where Mrs. Vitello's flower shop used to be was now some shop selling organic products. There was a young lady standing behind the counter wrapping up some parcels. She looked up from the box and sees Arnold through the glass door making him look away embarrassed, he hadn't meant to stare. He just thought she looked familiar but he couldn't really recognize her.

"Arnold?" he heard the young lady call out as she stepped out from the shop and he turned to face her finally recognizing her tall, lean figure and sandy brown hair.

"Sheena! I couldn't recognize you the first time. How have you been?" He asked.

"I'm good Arnold, you haven't changed much." She smiled scanning him up and down with her eyes.

Arnold returned a smile, "So, you're working here now?" he nodded at the shop behind her.

"Yes, my parents bought this place from Mrs. Vitello after she retired and decided to open a shop where they can sell their products."

"How's business?"

"It wasn't going well the first time we started since nobody really comes here. So I decided to do a little advertising, you know, start up a blog and scoring interviews in magazines. The biggest breakthrough was when we decided to provide delivery services."

"That's great Sheena, really. I'm really happy things worked out in the end."

Sheena smiled at him fondly and was about to say something when the phone rang in her shop.

She hurriedly took out a card from her jeans pocket and handed it to Arnold.

"This card has my number and email on it."

"I'll be sure to call." Arnold promised as he placed the card in his coat pocket.

Sheena smiled, gave him a quick hug and ran back to her store to get the call. He waved goodbye at her before walking away to see who else he'd run into.

He came to the butcher shop where Mr. Green worked in, the butcher with the ironic name.

Arnold entered the place and a man stepped out the walk-in fridge, instead of the red-haired, heavily tanned butcher he's always known came out a gray haired old man with tiny circle lens glasses.

"Arnold? My God it's really you!"

"Hey Mr. Green, how have you been?" Arnold took a seat next where Mr. Green beckoned him to.

"It's been the same, only thing that changes are the people. Old ones go, new ones come and take their place. Life goes on. What's going on in your life kid? You married? What's your job?"

Arnold gave a light chuckle, "I'm not married. I was engaged once... just things didn't work out."

"You're young Arnold, your life's just getting started."

Arnold just smiled at him, at twenty-five he felt like time was slipping away from his hands.  
At that moment, a group of kids passed by the butcher shop. A little boy came up from behind a girl in the group and pulled her ponytail before running off with her running after him.

"Those kids pass by the shop every day, they sorta remind me of you kids before." Mr. Green said.

Arnold turned to him and smiled, "Well I better get going Mr. Green. Happy holidays."

"You too Arnold. Hey, the next time you come visit I wanna see little versions of ya walkin' around here alright?"

Arnold chuckled "I'll do my best." He said. "You take care."

He thought he'd pass by the corner store to see if he could find any of the snacks he loved as a kid to take with him on the plane.  
A box of instant mashed potatoes dropped from a lady's shopping bag as she was leaving the store and Arnold, always a gentleman, rushed to pick it up for her seeing how she struggled between trying to balance two shopping bangs in her hands and kneeling down to pick up the box.

"It's ok I got it." Arnold told her putting the fallen box back into the paper bag it fell from.

The lady who looked in her fifties with short blonde hair paused as she looked at his face and Arnold immediately recognized who she was,

"Mrs. Pataki! Hi!" He greeted.

"Arnold! Oh it's so good to see you! What are you doing back in Hillwood?"

"Thought I'd drop by and say a few hellos, I'm heading to San Lorenzo with my parents to spend the holidays. Here let me help you with this." He took one of the bags from her.

"Thanks Arnold, always a sweetheart." Miriam said as she lightly placed a hand over his arm. "You know, I think it's a good idea to spend Christmas in the tropics. I'm sure it'll be much more pleasant than the cold that's setting in here."

"It kinda is actually." He told her. "You should try it someday."

"I guess I should." She agreed and after a short moment of walking in silence she said, "Helga's coming over tomorrow."

Miriam has always liked him, after all. He was the only person in this world who's given her younger daughter's life more meaning than anyone else, nothing broke her heart more than when she found out that they've broken up before going their separate ways for college.

"Unfortunately I don' think I'll be able to catch up to her. But tell her I said hi." Arnold tried to sound as casual as he could.

"I will." She promised when they finally reached her house.

Arnold helped put the groceries in the kitchen before saying goodbye and headed to the airport to catch his flight.

**Author's Note: I originally planned on making another high school sequel to one of my fics Hillwood High but as much as how diverse high school can be especially with all of the HA! kids in it I figured it would be much better to imagine how their lives would be like as adults since that's the age many of us who grew up watching the show are in.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So where to now Sport?" Miles asked his son during their celebratory lunch after his graduation ceremony.

"I applied at Hillwood Medical Center, and then after four years of internship there I plan on opening my own practice."

"Why Hillwood honey?" Stella asked him.

"I guess that place has a pull on me. I also decided to renovate the boarding house, try and make it as a side business."

Miles put his knife and fork down and produced a check from the inner pocket of his blazer, "Here son," He said. "from me and your mother. We're proud of you."

"Wow mom, dad I- this is too much. I can't take this from you."

"Arnold sweetheart you earned it." Stella told him.

"Yeah son go buy yourself a new car, get a better apartment..."

"I'm moving in back to Sunset Arms.."

.

He dialed a phone number he's memorized by heart, lucky for him she hasn't changed her mobile number since high school.  
Sid needed to hear her voice like a drug addict needed his hit; after his mother's death the only comfort in his now desolate life was her voice.  
A voice that brought back memories of the best years of his life. A voice that put more smiles to his face than frowns, that built him up with words when the world tried to break him down.

"I've been getting calls from random numbers every night for a week now. It's so annoying … and getting pretty scary." Rhonda shuddered as she complained to her best friend.

"Did you report that number? It could be a stalker." Nadine suggested.

"It's not from a fixed line. He- she keeps calling from different phone numbers."

"Phone booths?"

"Yes."

Nadine slowly put her cup down and look concernedly at her friend, "How about I move in with you? Just until we find a solution to this."

"I was just about to ask you the same." Rhonda smiled at her relieved.

.

"Move back to Sunset Arms?" Miles was surprised at his son's decision.

"It's pretty close to the medical center and it'll help me save up for when I open my practice after my Internship." Arnold explained.

"That place is gonna need a lot of fixing up." Miles said.

"Arnold honey," Stella placed an encouraging hand over her son's. "if you need any help be sure to give us a call."

.

"Guess who I ran into today." Miriam told Helga who was helping her around the kitchen. "Arnold!"

"Oh?" Helga replied nonchalantly, "where?"

Somehow, over the years, his name stopped making her heart skip a beat every time she heard it.

"At the corner store while I went and got some groceries, he said he'll be spending the holidays with his parents in San Lorenzo."

"Maybe we should spend next Christmas in the tropics." Helga suggested going off subject.

.

.

**Author's Note: I think I've kept a few people waiting for the last four months. So much has been going on and I guess I lost my spark. But I'm back and I hope I don't disappoint. Happy Holidays!**


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: So I'm finally back. Freshly graduated from college and finally having some ideas for this story. I decided to make Helga the narrator of this fanfiction, like a journal entry as the events unfold.  
Happy Reading 3

**Chapter 3:**

January, 2013

_Sometimes the littlest things can have the biggest impact on us. Take memories for example, every little memory that takes us back to the carefree days of our childhood makes us forget the everyday stresses of adult life. A slice of cheese connects to warm afternoons at the cheese festival stalking a blonde haired boy to get his affection, yellow daisies growing on the sidewalk after a rainy morning and feigning ignorance calling them little suns, chocolate pudding and an April fool's prank to get the dream date you've wanted … _

.

"So how are the renovations going so far?" Gerald asked placing his cup of coffee down.

Arnold sighed, "Pretty tough. The place has been neglected for so long."

"We had some pretty good times in there." Gerald chuckled, "_Good times_."

"How are the preparations for the wedding coming along?"

"All I know about it is which shop I'll be getting my tuxedo from, the rest is being taken care of by Phoebe, Timberly and both our moms. Man I don't understand why women make such a big deal about weddings. Going through fifty dresses for one you'll be wearing for one day and never again, what flowers match with the theme- why would a wedding need a_ damn_ theme?!

Gerald took another sip of coffee, "You know Jamie O's offer on that bachelor party is still on."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Gerald." He said that warning tone that hasn't changed since they were children.

"Not for me man- for _you_. You look like you need a little break from all that work you do."

"I'm fine Gerald." Arnold told him firmly.

"Whatever you say Arnold."

.

"I really hope I can fit into the dress. It's the final fitting and the wedding's only two months away!" Phoebe nervously stirred the champagne in her glass as she and her bridesmaids were waiting for her dress.

"It will fit," Rhonda said "that is, if you've been sticking to my diet plan."

Phoebe felt nauseous when she remembered the taste of Rhonda's Kale shakes and hoped that they were worth it.

"I sure have." She said.

.

_April 2000_

I never understood why people got excited for weddings. They were boring, _frou frou_, and around half of those marriages are going to end up in divorce anyway. It kind of leaves a person feeling betrayed, those vows the bride and groom read that sound like they'll stay married and in love until their last days on earth but the opposite happens.

_Or was it just me? _

"Helga? Are you ready yet?" Miriam's voice asked outside my bedroom door.

"Yes." I sighed as I looked at my reflection at the full-length mirror.

It was Olga's wedding day and I was sure that I felt more nervous than she did. _Chad_ was charming unlike the douchebag Olga brought home before, he even got me to believe he was the real deal.

.

"Gerald tells me Arnold is renovating the sunset arms." Phoebe said.

"Is he thinking of opening the boarding house for business again?" Rhonda asked.

"No, something about opening a private practice."

"My mom ran into him during the holidays." I said with little enthusiasm. Except, at that moment I felt my heart a little. Maybe it was because I was among old friends.

"I ran into him during the holidays too." Sheena piped. "He hasn't changed much."

"You mean still an angel?" Rhonda said and gave me a teasing look which I returned with an eye roll. Will everyone just get over the Arnold and me thing already?

"And cute." Sheena added.

"I think guys our age are a little too old for _cute_ don't you think Sheena?" I said to her.

"Wherever did you get that rule from Helga? Arnold is cute … more like boyishly handsome." Rhonda told me. "If he's still available, do you mind if I date him if he's still available _Helgs_?"

"Knock yourself out … _Ron_." I retorted.

"I told you had nothing to worry about Pheebs, you're one of those girls who never gain weight easily." I assured her.

"In that case, let's celebrate with lunch." Phoebe suggested.

"I know a good place around here." Rhonda led her friends clueless that someone watched her from a distance.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

_Nothing in this can beat the power of emotions. As a matter of fact emotions are probably the driving force for humanity._

_As Oscar Wilde once wrote: _  
"I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them."

_Emotions like love have the power to make a seemingly strong person weak or give strength to an otherwise weak person. Despite being only a set of chemicals it's kind of scary the way these set of chemicals that are usually unintentionally 'emitted' by our system can have such a strong effect on us. _

Sid looked on at Rhonda from the café across the bridals shop the as she walked off with her friends. He didn't mean to be a creepy stalker, he just missed her so much.

He's dated so many girls after Rhonda but none of them came close to her. God knows how much he longed to be with her again. But she could never forgive or believe him after what happened that day eight years earlier.

.

_October, 2005_

It's been a tough summer for Sid. His mom got diagnosed with breast cancer and he's been working two jobs just to be able to pay for her treatment, leaving little time to spend with his girlfriend. But Rhonda being the wonderful girlfriend that she is has been understanding and supportive of him through it all.

"Hey boyfriend." A pretty, tall, short-haired brunette came in and sat at the counter of Bigal's café where Sid was wiping the counter.

"Hey doll-face." Sid returned a tired smile.

Waiting tables at Bigal's was something he'd do on weekdays after school. Sid's second job was moving boxes to the warehouses at the dock on weekends.

"My shift is over in fifteen Ron, where do you wanna hang to finish our paper?"

"We're just having dinner tonight." Rhonda gave a cheeky smile as she proudly handed him a stapled stack of papers.

"What's this?" he asked eyeing the papers.

"Our paper. I thought I'd finish it myself- you already have _so much_ on your hands. I just wanted to help." She pouted and held both his hands in hers.

Sid sighed and pulled his hands away, "I'm already putting you through so much Ron."

"Don't you dare say that ever again Sid!" She cut him off. "I'm your girlfriend and being the good girlfriend that I am, I'm helping you out."

Sid regained his composure and leaned in to Rhonda, "I'm sorry babe, I was wrong to say that. You are an awesome girlfriend."

Rhonda grinned and leaned in for a kiss which was interrupted by the sound of the café's front door bell as a couple entered. It was Lorenzo with a girl the couple didn't recognize.

He looked at them darkly and slowly turned away as he and his date headed to one of the tables at the back of the café.

"Wasn't the girl he was with last week blonde?" Rhonda asked Sid.

"He comes in with a different girl every week. He changes girl like he changes cars … literally." Sid replied averting his gaze away from Lorenzo and his girl.

Ever since their fight a year earlier Sid and Lorenzo's friendship has come to an end. It wasn't even Sid's fault but Lorenzo has had enough of Sid's shenanigans and the latter feeling betrayed decided they'd rather go their own separate ways.

Sometimes Sid felt the reason Lorenzo sometimes brought his dates to Bigal's was to just get on his nerves and try and humiliate him since Sid waited tables there.

"Can we get some service here already?" Lorenzo called out from his table as the girl beside him giggled.

"I'll be back babe." Sid sighed picking up a pen and notepad.

"Ok." Rhonda gave a warm smile and checked on the messages in her phone's inbox.

"What's it gonna be Lorenzo?" Sid asked getting his pen ready.

Lorenzo smirked at him as he slowly took his arm from his date's bare, freckly shoulders and scanned the menu.

"I'll have the Fettuccine alfredo and some orange juice and Brandy here wants a tuna salad and a lime-mint soda."

"Lime-mint soda," Sid repeated as he jotted the orders down. "You know Brandy, that's exactly what the other girl ordered. Your orders will be ready in twenty minutes." Sid smirked as he walked away hearing Brandy ask Lorenzo who the other girl was.

He coolly took off his apron and gave the couple's orders to the kitchen before leaving Bigal's with his girl.

"Nicely played." Rhonda chuckled complimenting her boyfriend.

The next day at school while Sid was getting dressed for soccer practice at the boys' locker room, Lorenzo waited for all the boys to leave before approaching Sid.

"That was pretty lame joke you tried to pull on my date yesterday, Sidney." Lorenzo taunted.

"You know Lorenzo," Sid said as he finished tying his shoelaces and stood up to face him. "I've always wondered why you never took your dates to those fancy restaurants your dad's money can afford to pay for."

Lorenzo narrowed his eyes at Sid, "It's a free country is it not? I believe I have the right to take my dates there whenever I want."

Sid shrugged coolly, "Just asking." He told him and got ready to leave the locker room before Lorenzo stopped him.

"How is your mother's treatment going by the way?"

Sid froze in his tracks, "It's really none of your business Lorenzo."

"What if I told you I can find you a better paying job than the one you have at Bigal's?" he proposed.

"What's the catch?" Sid asked suspiciously.

"No catch, I'm just getting really tired of this rift between us." Lorenzo extended his hand. "Truce?"

Sid looked suspiciously at Lorenzo's hand; as much as he wanted to be friends again he had his doubts about it.

"Guys, coach Roberts is looking for you two." Arnold came in interrupting the two boys.

"I'll give you time to think about it." Lorenzo told Sid before leaving the locker room.

"What happened Sid?" Arnold asked the remaining boy.

"He just offered me a job." Sid replied suspiciously.

I was passing by Hillwood on the weekend to pick up Miriam for Phoebe's bridal shower Rhonda was throwing at her parents' house.

"Your father fell down the stairs and broke his back … _again_." Miriam announced when she greeted me at the door. "I should've called but I figured you're probably already halfway here, and you were driving I'm not supposed to call you."

"When did that happen?" I asked.

"Just a few minutes ago." Miriam replied as she led me to Big Bob's trophy room where Bob was sitting on his armchair groaning in pain.

"Where are the pediatricians Miriam I'm dying here!"

"Calm down _B,_ they'll be here in a few." Miriam went over to check on him. "So I'm sorry Helga I don't think I'll be able to go with you the bridal shower. Tell Phoebe and Reba that I'm sorry."

"Oh come on Miriam you're already dressed up, go on without me."

Miriam chuckled, "Oh _B_, listen to yourself, _go on without me_. I'm not good at these kind of gatherings, I'll get bored easily."

_I looked on at my parents at what I used to describe when I was younger- their best behavior. I actually started to feel like this house was really a home when Big Bob finally let Miriam attend AA meetings. With Miriam all sobered up and back to her independent self, things finally lightened up at home._

**Author's Note: I'm on a roll and I'm loving it and I'm sure you readers love it too from the comments and follows after the last chapter I posted. Thank you so much! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Tell me what you think of my portrayal of Lorenzo here. I thought it would be fitting for him to be a little bit of a player in his teens. That's what I love about these characters, it's so fun to formulate a background story for them.  
So drop by and drop some lines, let's talk! I wanna know my 50+ readers.**

** Sandra Strickland: ****Yes, I think Sid stalking is a little less scary than when Curly does it. And personally I love the Sid x Rhonda pairing more than the Curly x Rhonda pairing. They're the perfect kind of 'opposites attract' case in the show. My story explores the gang's lives eight years after they last seen each other so there's so much that went on in between and it's all coming in the next chapters. Thanks for your feedback.**

** Nep2uune****: We'll have to see how things progress between our favorite blonde couple, right now Helga's only neutral towards him what with all those years of separation and her hitting her mid-twenties. She's definitely toned down a bit like most adults do.**

** LeDawn:**** That's definitely our Arnold ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

** keology:**** Yes like I mentioned in my last **_**Author's Note**_** that 'Sid x Rhonda' were my favorite pairing in the show even they never really focused on it in the show. I always have this pairing in all of my fics. In my opinion Sid makes a perfect boyfriend for Rhonda than Harold or Curly.**

** LeDawn****: Good eye, lol.**

** SandraStrickland****: I love to imagine Sid and Rhonda to be the type of couple that brings out the best in each other. Helga wouldn't be Helga if she didn't think about Arnold, thanks for your review ;)**

**.**

**Chapter 5:**

_Rhonda always threw the best themed-parties, so it was no surprise that she was in charge of Phoebe's bridal shower. I offered to help, being the maid of honor I had to do something for my best friend's big day but Rhonda was like a one-man-army when it came to these things._

_A maid opened the front door and led me to the large hall where the shower was being held. It was a Japanese themed party… conveniently. Paper cherry blossom strings hung from the walls along with paper lamps hanging from the ceiling. Huge paper fans with intricate oriental art sketched on them hung on the walls and the hall was filled with pastel pink and white balloons. _

_Phoebe sat in the middle surrounded by her friends, family, and her bridesmaids and of course, a truckload of gifts._

"Helga!" Phoebe called out when she noticed me come in and ran over to me. "Isn't this beautiful?"

I looked around the hall taking in the decorations, "It's … _you_." I remarked.

"I know." Phoebe gave me the widest smile I've seen her make in a long while.

"Here you go Helga." Rhonda came over and handed me a pink kimono jacket.

"What's this?" I asked eyeing the piece of clothing.

"A kimono, duh."

_Can people our age still say that? …_

"Rhonda, it's your phone." Nadine came to where we stood with Rhonda's phone.

I could see the word _FREAK_ on her phone screen as it informed her of the incoming call. Rhonda's hands trembled as she held her phone.

"It's that creep again isn't it?" Nadine asked Rhonda who took a deep breath and rushed towards the stairs quickly ascending them.

"What creep?" I asked Nadine who at that moment followed her best friend.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" I said and followed them with Phoebe following behind.

When I finally reached Rhonda she had already taken the call and was threatening whoever was on the other end of the call.

"Listen up you messed up, twisted creep I don't care if this is a prank! Call me again and I swear I'm reporting you!" her voice was loud and threatening yet a little shaky, she was being totally serious. Whoever the person that was calling her was they probably made her feel so paranoid.

The caller was silent.

"Aren't you gonna say anything? I'm serious!" Rhonda went on.

" ... I'm sorry for freaking you out like that Rhonda." A reply finally came.

It was a sad, tired voice of a guy she thought she recognized. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized the possibility of it being-

"Sid?" Her voice was barely audible at that moment.

.

October, 2005

"Lorenzo offered me a job yesterday before soccer practice." Sid told his girlfriend the next morning as they walked to school.

"Doing what?" She asked as she took out a compact mirror and checked on her makeup.

"He never said and I didn't ask."

"That seemed sudden." Rhonda remarked as she placed her mirror back into her red handbag.

"He even asked for a truce."

"Ok now this is getting even weirder … what did you say?"

"Arnold came in saying coach was looking for us before I could even reply. And after practice I just left straight for work."

The couple was silent for a minute or so before Rhonda asked, "Don't you miss being friends with him?"

Sid glanced at her in surprise and quickly returned his eyes on the road, "What's with that?"

"Nothing I just- you guys have been friends for so long and then you two throw it away over a stupid fight over a girl?"

"So what you're saying is that it's my fault?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Look! Rhonda, I had no interest in Stephanie whatsoever. It wasn't my fault she dated Lorenzo just so she could get to me."

"I never said that it was your fault! I just thought that maybe you should take him on his offer of going back to being friends like before. I mean; I can't imagine me and Nadine throwing away years of friendship over something …. "

At that moment she wished she had Helga's vocabulary so she could find the rights words to say.

"Rhonda." Sid finally said with a little pain in his voice as they finally reached school.

"This is my issue, and honestly the only thing I need to focus right now is helping my dad with affording mom's treatments and making it through senior year … in one piece." He gave her a cheeky smile which she knew he tried to mask the frustration and misery that were eating him from the inside out.

Rhonda decided to let it go and smile back.

"I'll see you at lunch _doll-face_." He gave her a light peck on her lips before leaving for class.

Fourth period finally came after what seemed like days instead of hours, Sid looked out the wide windows of his biology class. Grey clouds covered the skies with what seemed like they had no intention to rain down on the city until later in the night. Dry, yellow leaves that the wind carried hit the windows lightly.

Sid looked around class and it seemed like everyone agreed with his suspicion that there must be something wrong with all the clocks in school and on their watches and phones. Everything and everyone seemed slow and dull.

"Could this day get any slower?" A girl with shoulder-length, blonde, curly hair asked the question on everyone's minds. "Hey Sid." She greeted placing her books on the desk beside Sid.

"Hey Sheryl." Sid flashed her a friendly smile.

"I swear I could've stayed back home. This weather is perfect for hot choc and watching a movie." Sheryl sighed plopping into her seat.

"I couldn't agree more."

"Hey, I think Mrs. Harley is going to finally assign our lab projects and lab partners today. Wanna be my partner?"

At that moment Sid could've sworn he's seen her pale cheeks and nose turn a light pink.

"Sorry Shirls, I call dibs on Sid." Harold interrupted them and went to his desk at the back of the classroom.

Sid and Shirley looked at Harold surprised and Sid gave her an apologetic smile before going over to Harold.

"You call _dibs_ on me? Should I be worried?" Sid asked him jokingly, taking the seat in front of Harold's desk.

"You've got to be blind to not notice _Shirley Temple_ there not flirting with you since the beginning of the term."

"Shirley? No way!" Sid whispered incredulously.

"Trust me I can see everything from my place here in class."

January, 2013

The call seemed to be over as Rhonda slowly lowered the phone from her ear.

"I'm going to my room- I just need to be alone for now." Her voice was tired and she slowly headed towards her bedroom.

None of us dared to follow her. We've seen her in this condition before; back in high school when she and Sid broke up.

Originally, Rhonda planned a girls' night out after the shower but I guess that's cancelled for tonight. Phoebe decided to utilize the time to check on the wedding arrangements so that just left me on my own with nothing to do; I thought I'd call Miriam to check on Bob's condition.

"It's not so serious but the doctors say he'll have to stay overnight just to check on his condition. How was the shower honey?"

"It was fine …" I didn't feel like giving her the details since the headache I felt forming during the shower started to get worse.

"Alright, we'll be home tomorrow morning. Stay until lunch before you go back, Olga's coming over tomorrow."

"Ok mom. Bye."

_I needed to get some coffee- fast! And since Bigal's was nearby I decided I'd go there._

_The chiming of the door-bell at the café entrance immediately filled me with nostalgia. I looked around and the place hasn't changed much, there were just a few teenagers hanging around and an old couple was having a light dinner. I guessed that the rest of them were at some party; this place was usually packed with high-schoolers on the weekend._

_I sat at the counter and ordered my coffee. A tall lanky teen took my order, despite the obvious difference in looks, he reminded me of Sid when he used to work here back in the twelfth-grade. It really was a tough year for him, if it wasn't for Rhonda he probably wouldn't have made it … too bad they didn't last. _

_And Arnold …_


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I just noticed a typo in the last chapter. The girl flirting with Sid is 'Sheryl' not 'Shirley'. Ok so here's the awaited chapter; it took me a while to write since I had so many ideas for this chapter but I just had to find a way to piece them together. And I needed a little time to come up with ideas of which character would come dressed as who or what. But I still enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it too. Xoxo.**

** keology:**** I'm glad you enjoyed them. My earlier works hold wonderful memories back to when I was battling depression and in some way, I got reintroduced to the show, both writing and reliving my childhood memories helped me get through so much and I'm glad you enjoyed reading my words just as much as I've enjoyed writing them.**

** Nep2uune:**** Sometimes it's better to face your fears and any unfinished business so your past won't come to haunt you and that's what Rhonda did. Arnold will always have a special place in Helga's heart.**

** LeDawn:**** You'll find out in this chapter ;)**

** Cleaners:**** Thanks! It's what I imagine the characters to be in their mid-twenties; grown up and a little grounded. Shaped by further circumstances over the years but still retain the unique aspects of their personality that we we're all familiar with. **

_**I appreciate my new followers and everyone who favourited my work; and the people who took the time to review my fic. I love discussing the chapters and the characters, or anything about the show for that matter.**_

**Chapter 6:**

_October, 2005_

"I swear I'll never get this Trigonometry crap." I sighed as me and Arnold walked out of class and headed towards my locker.

"It's really not that hard, you just need to practice it a little more." He encouraged. "Wanna come over to my place today after school so I can help you with it?"

I gave him a weak smile as I closed my locker and snaked my arm around his waist and he in return placed his long, thin yet strong arm over my shoulders as we walked towards the school cafeteria. "You know I won't say no to that." I chuckled as I tightened my grip around his waist and enjoyed the warmth of his body. I usually avoided PDAs but this weather made me wish I was with Arnold in his room, laying down in his bed reading a good book with him beside me.

"Get a room!" Harold shouted at us from a distance with Sid and Stinky following behind chuckling.

"They never grow up." I told Arnold as I rolled my eyes at those idiots … one of the reasons I don't do PDA.

"It's high school Helga, who does?" Arnold reminded me … he was right.

.

"Hey Sid, are you going to work on Friday?" Stinky asked his best friend as they waited in line along with Harold.

"I have to." Sid sighed. "What's up?"

"The school Halloween party Sid … I thought Rhonda would be all over you about it." Harold huffed. Parties _were_ Rhonda's forte after all.

"I guess she forgot … she's been so busy helping me out every day after school lately." Sid said guiltily.

"Hey Sid." Sheryl suddenly popped in front of him. "I forgot to give you back your pen."

"Uh … thanks." Sid said nervously remembering what Harold told him about her earlier.

She lingered shyly for a few seconds, "So … I'll see you soon." She told him before she left.

"Told you." Harold reminded him grabbing a burger and placing it on his tray.

"So that's Sheryl." Stinky's gaze was still fixed on the girl who went back the table where her friends were seated.

"You two were discussing this behind my back?" Sid asked surprised that he was the last to know among his friends.

"It's not like we ever see you around Sid." Stinky sighed picking up his tray to move along with the line.

"Well excuse me for being too busy helping my family get through the mess we're in!" Sid exclaimed in frustration.

"I didn't mean that Sid and you know it!" Stinky told him feeling a little hurt.

"Hey man, Sid, come on. Calm down, you know Stinky didn't mean that." Harold tried to calm his friend down.

Sid sighed as he rubbed his temples, "I didn't mean to go off like that. I just- there's already so much going on. I'm really not in the mood for any high school drama nonsense right now."

.

We grabbed the trays and joined the other students standing in line at the cafeteria. Harold, Sid and Stinky were ahead of us in the line and seemed to be busily discussing something right after a curly haired, blonde girl who came over to give something to Sid left.

"Who was that?" I asked Arnold eyeing the blonde who seemed strangely familiar to me.

"That's Sheryl Roger. Harold was talking about her once … he suspected she had a thing for Sid." Arnold explained following my gaze.

"Princess is _not_ gonna like this." I shook my head as if I could foresee the upcoming tragedy that's about to happen.

"I wouldn't worry too much." Arnold concurred. "We're talking about Rhonda. Sid's been crazy about her since third grade."

"Along with half the male population of P.S. 118." I mumbled.

_Li_la! … I finally realized who Sheryl reminded me of. I looked on at her chatting innocently with her friends and hoped she wouldn't cause Rhonda much trouble as much as Lila caused me.

.

_January, 2013_

"Helga?" A familiar voice brought me back to the present, I raised my eyes to find a familiar, football-headed, blonde man that I've known since I was a child … and dated, once before.

"… Arnold." I managed to finally say after seconds of staring at him dumbfounded.

"Wow! Can you believe it's been so long since we've last seen each other?" He told me as he casually took a seat on one of the bar stools next to me, ordered a cup of coffee and turned back his attention to me.

"Yeah." I was strangely disappointed that he seemed so … cool about _this._

_But what else could I expect? I mean, it's been eight years right? Get over it already Helga!_

"I ran into your mom during the holidays … last year." He joked lightly touching my arm. "Sorry about that," he apologized with a little chuckle.

I smiled as I rolled my eyes and changed the subject. "Phoebe said you were renovating the boarding house …?"

"Uh, ya. I'm thinking of turning it into my Private Practice. Actually, I go there every weekend."

"How far in are you? With the renovations I mean."

"I'm almost done with the ground floor." He said taking a sip of his coffee. "Wanna go check it out?"

"You did this all by yourself?" I asked looking around the place. It was perfectly renovated it was hard to believe that this place is over a hundred years old and hasn't been lived in for almost a decade.

"I used to help out Grandpa with any maintenance or renovations this place needed so I already know where everything is and how things around the house worked. The only set back was that this place is really run down, and I'm the only one working on it- but time isn't an issue really so I'm not really worried about any deadline or anything."

"If you like, I can help you out … with the renovations and stuff." I wasn't sure why I just said that.

"Really Helga? Thanks! I appreciate that. You sure it's ok?"

_Oh Arnold …_

"I didn't stutter did I?" I gave him a smirk. I loved teasingly taunting him like that.

_Arnold just smiled and we spent the rest of the night walking around the neighborhood, talking about our old friends, all the memories we had, the places we used to hang out in ..._

"Heard anything about Sid lately?" I asked since we were on the subject of memories.

"Not after we all left for college" He replied. "Gerald's been trying to contact him so he could invite him to his wedding but even Harold and Stinky haven't spoken to him for over a year now."

_And yet he calls Rhonda. Sid must've been having it rough lately._

"Sid's gone through so much for so long." Arnold voiced out my thoughts and I nodded agreeably.

.

_October, 2005_

_Friday came and every high school senior at PHS-118 quickly returned home to get ready for that evening's Halloween party. I guess it was the fact that it was one of the few, last high school parties of their lives- and as much as most of us wanted to leave Hillwood we were still attached to this place, to this school … to the people. Nobody was ready to leave just yet._

"What are you supposed to be?" Phoebe asked me when she opened the front door to her house. Gerald, Phoebe, Arnold and I agreed to go to the party together.

I lifted a sack with a big dollar sign drawn over and said, "Bank robber." I grinned before letting myself in.

"This is obviously a last-minute outfit you thought up. Am I right?" Phoebe plopped on the couch eyeing my ultra-simple costume of black converse, black skinnies, black and white striped shirt, a black beanie and finger-less black gloves.

_She was right. This last minute costume idea that Arnold and I thought up after weeks of procrastination was because we were too busy to worry about the party. He was helping me with Trigonometry and I helped him with Composition and Grammar … and other things._

"Chill out Pheebs, you're starting to sound like Rhonda." I told her plopping down beside her on the couch.

"So what's Arnold? A cop?" she asked.

"My partner in crime." I smiled cheekily and took a better look at her costume which consisted of a blue Qipao, brown leggings, white combat boots and large spike cuffs. "And you're … ?"

"Chun-Li" She piped and I raised my eyebrows indicating that I required further explanation. To which she replied with an eye roll. "She's a video game character."

"How long have you been into video games?" I asked her since I couldn't recall her having any interest in video games … ever.

"It was Gerald's idea." Phoebe tried to hide her blushing face by toying with a spike on her huge bracelet.

_As if on cue, Gerald finally arrived and honked his car to let us know. He was driving Jamie-O's Pontiac Trans Am with white racing stripes._

"I see what you mean when you said partners in crime." Gerald told Arnold who gave him a wide grin as he proceeded to sit in the back seat of the car.

"Hey Gerald." I said when I got into the backseat to sit right next to my boyfriend. I couldn't call him 'Tall Hair Boy' anymore, he's gotten rid of his hi-top fade and opted for a shorter hair style. He was wearing green dinner trousers with suspenders and a white dress shirt.

"And you're supposed to be a butler?" I asked.

"Dudley." He replied raising a pair of blue boxing gloves to show me as if he expected I'd get what he said right away.

"She has no idea who that is." Phoebe told him while putting on her seat belt.

"It's a video game character." Arnold explained.

"Of- course." I shrugged.

"I got the masks."

"Cool." I said as I put on the black eye mask.

"Great, you'll definitely win best costume now." Gerald mocked.

_We gave our tickets and entered the gym which was already filled with students._

"I should've guessed you wouldn't take this party seriously." Rhonda huffed as she walked over to us.

"It's a Halloween party _Princess_, what's there to be serious about?" I defended. "What are you supposed to be? A secretary?" I asked about her outfit which was a plain black pencil skirt, white button shirt with black high heels and her hair in a bun.

"I'm Lois Lane. And Sid is Clark Kent." She pointed at Sid who was coming over to us while holding a plastic cup in each hand. His hair was parted to the side and he wore a pair of black horn rimmed glasses. The creative part of his outfit was that he was wearing a suit and his shirt was opened wide sideways to reveal the famous Superman costume underneath.

"Ok, that's creative." I complimented. "How do you keep the shirt split open like that?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Rhonda excitedly showed us how she kept the shirt open in place by using safety pins attached inside the jacket.

_Over at the snacks table Harold, Stinky and Curly stood scanning for potential dance partners._

"This party is weak." Curly, who was dressed as Andy Warhol, scoffed.

"Tell me about it, I've seen girls dress hotter at our tenth grade Halloween party." Harold said.

"It's because that was a house party and it didn't have Principal Haverford chaperoning it." Stinky dressed as Luigi pointed with his cup at an imposing man who walked around the gym calling out on student's actions or outfits. He looked like he was in his late forties with light, close-cropped blonde hair and wide hazel eyes that looked like they could see right through you.

"Doesn't he have kids he should take trick-or-treating or something?" Curly asked.

"Divorced. No kids." Stinky replied.

"That explains a lot."

"Hey, is that girl in our grade?" Harold pointed at a girl with straight blond hair donning a Super Girl outfit.

"I'm not sure if I've even seen her in school." Curly noted. "Wait a minute, isn't that Sheryl?"

"Holy cow! It is!" Harold exclaimed when he finally recognized her.

"Wilikers! She looks exactly like the comics."

_Stinky was right. If Hollywood was thinking of making a movie about Super Girl Sheryl should definitely go to the audition, they'd pick her on the spot!_

_Her outfit wasn't too revealing but from what I gathered from the conversation of the comic geeks that sat behind me in Chemistry class in the 9th grade, Super Girl was every comic geek's dream girl._

"Rhonda is gonna flip if she sees Sheryl talk to Sid tonight." Harold said.

"I wouldn't wanna miss that!" Curly flashed him a manic grin.

.

"Baby I gotta go to the ladies' room. Be back in ten, k?" Rhonda leaned in to give her a boyfriend a kiss but stopped when she heard the familiar throat-clearing sound of the principal and decided to comply.

_Sid eyed his girlfriend before she disappeared into the crowd. At that moment the band started playing a cover of Smash Mouth's 'Come on – Come on' really lightening the mood at the party._

_._

_Walking out of the door I'm on my way can you tell me just where I'm going__  
__Occupational skills would you give me a clue what to do cause my minds in motion_

_._

"Hey Sid!" Sheryl approached him and celebrated a little inside when noticing how she took him by surprise with her new look.

"Sheryl!" Sid managed to blurt out. "You look- different!"

_Not the word she was expecting to hear._

.

_Come on Come on and tell me why you're staring__  
__Come on Come on it must be what I'm wearing_

_._

"Yeah I straightened my hair because," she pointed at her outfit with both her hands for emphasis. "Super Girl doesn't have big, _poofy,_ blonde hair." She chuckled.

"Yeah." Sid let out a nervous laugh.

_She obviously looked cute and he was sure every boys' eyes were on her tonight but there was nothing she could do or has done to make him think of anyone but Rhonda. She stood by his side through everything since tenth grade and she's made him a better person he couldn't throw all this way for a cute blonde who thought he'd be perfect for her._

"I'm back." Rhonda announced but paused when she saw Sheryl. "Oh wow."

_Sheryl looked at her expectantly and Sid was probably sweating bullets at that moment._

"Why didn't I think of dressing up as Super Girl?" Rhonda wondered and went on to compliment Sheryl's outfit, "It looks so good on you! I don't think we've met, I'm Rhonda Lloyd by the way." Rhonda politely put out her hand.

Sheryl quickly regained her composure and shook Rhonda's hand, "Thanks. You look great too." She did her best to keep a straight face.

"Why don't we head over to the snack table, babe. I'm starving." Sid said and grabbed his girlfriend away from there leaving Sheryl on her own in the middle of students dancing and chatting.

.

"I wouldn't have wanted you to dress up as Super Girl anyway." Sid told Rhonda as he handed her a plastic cup filled with punch.

"Why not? Blonde looks good on me."

"Super-Man and Super-Girl are cousins."

"Oh- ew."

"Exactly." He chuckled and wrapped his arm over her and took in the atmosphere; trying his best to forget the awkward situation that just happened.

.

The lead singer of the band playing for the Halloween Party took the mic and cleared his throat, "I'm glad you guys are enjoying the songs we've played for you. And I wanna thank Principal Haverford for letting us play here tonight …" He noticed half the crowd wasn't really paying attention so he decided to keep it short. "This last song is for someone special; it's a cover of 'Blind' by Lifehouse."

_He put the mic back in its place on the stand and gave his band the signal to start playing the song._

"Doesn't that kid look familiar to you Helga?" Arnold asked eyeing the black haired boy who just spoke over the microphone.

"He's probably a sophomore. Anyway, let's dance." I told him as I placed my arms over his neck and he complied by placing his hands over my hips as we started slow dancing to the song. I wasn't much of a dancer, not in public anyway, but the atmosphere won me over. There were just a few months left before we all go our separate ways … and I didn't want to think about that, not tonight.

.

_After all this time__  
__I never thought we'd be here__  
__Never thought we'd be here__  
__When my love for you was blind__  
__But I couldn't make you see it__  
__Couldn't make you see it_

.

**January, 2013**

_A car passed by and I could hear 'Blind' playing from the radio, I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me bringing back memories of when I first heard that song._

"Arnold, wanna come over for lunch tomorrow?" I asked as I turned to face him. "At my parents' place?"

Arnold's face brightened and he quickly agreed, "Sure! It's been a while since I've had any home cooked meal."

I smiled at him, "Me too."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

_January, 2013_

"I invited Arnold over for lunch." I told Miriam over breakfast the next morning.

"So he's back in Hillwood?"

"Ya he comes here every weekend- renovating his old place. I mean, his grandfather's. I hope you don't mind, I'll help."

"No! It's fine Helga honey, I don't mind really! Just a keep an eye on your dad. See if he needs any help." Miriam turned to take some vegetables out of the fridge. "I just wish you'd invited him earlier." She smiled at me.

_November, 2005_

"So you didn't take the job huh?" Rhonda asked Sid who was still working his job at Bigal's.

"No. The hours were too long for, too bad the pay was really good though. But I _did_ take his offer on being friends again." Sid flashed her a wide grin.

"I'm glad things are looking up between you both."

"So when are you leaving for Aspen?" Sid asked her.

"Tomorrow morning," she groaned. "I don't know why Daddy wanted to suddenly celebrate Thanksgiving at Uncle Richard's."

"How long are you going to be there for?"

"The weekend." Rhonda pouted.

"Bummer."

"How are you gonna spend your Thanksgiving?"

"Both my parents this year." Sid gave a grateful smile.

It's been almost ten years since his parents' divorce; did you think he was_ naturally_ on pins and needles all the time? I think his parents' separation damaged him in a way.

Thank Goodness for Rhonda I guess.

As for me, I couldn't have been more excited for Thanksgiving. Actually, I never was- besides the food and the house _occasionally_ feeling like a home when Olga came around to visit, holidays weren't always my favourite time of the year here.

Arnold only recently returned to Hillwood after years of being in San Lorenzo helping out his parents, so this is officially the first ever Thanksgiving dinner I'll be spending with him.

"So guess what." Arnold told me as he walked me home from school that afternoon.

"What?" I asked, curious.

"We'll be having extra company for dinner tomorrow." He frowned and I could already tell what _company_ he was referring to.

"Arnie?"

"And his parents."

"It's been over eight years, he still can't be the weirdo we've known him to be."

"Don't be so sure, ugh! This is gonna be so awkward." Arnold sighed and rubbed his temples.

"You're being dramatic Arnold, you've got the wackiest people living with you but you're worrying your head off about Arnie?! Unless …." I smirked knowingly. "You're feeling threatened."

"What about?" He asked, refusing to look me in the eye.

"That weirdo's probably over me by now! Criminy Arnold!"

"I never said that."

"Are you denying the truth _Shortman_?"

"You're so full of yourself you know that Pataki?" Arnold taunted me jokingly.

I burst out laughing and latched my arm with his, "I swear we have the weirdest last names."

"What's wrong with my last name?"

_January, 2013_

The doorbell rang that afternoon and it only meant one thing. I rushed towards the front door like a girl on prom night.

"Someone's excited." Olga noted to my mom.

"Hi Helga." He greeted me with a bowl of- _who knows what?_

"I didn't wanna come empty-handed, so I brought this dish with me. I learned how to make back in San Lorenzo."

"It's fine." I told him as I let him in.

"Oh Arnold honey you shouldn't have." Miriam said.

"How are you Mrs. Pataki?" Arnold politely asked and planted a kiss on her cheek.

He shook hands with Bob and hugged Olga before taking his seat on the table. It went fine, the lunch, Arnold's company really lit up the atmosphere at home and I loved it- and so did Miriam. More than I did I suppose …

.

** misssocrates: I guess they don't.**

** LeDawn: Just some random guy passing by with his car. Unless you mean the guy in the party who Arnold asked about.**

**Author's Note:**** So sorry for the slow update, so much has been going on, on my end. I've been busy preparing for job interviews and getting some paperwork done at my university, how's every one of my readers? How's summer going for you? Summer hasn't always been my favorite season, the hot weather drains me physically.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

_As a teenager I started my mantra of living life and taking chances. Because as invincible as we felt as teenagers there was a sort of unwritten agreement ingrained in most of us which made us 'live like there's no tomorrow' mentality … I guess that mentality faded as we got older._

_For some of us … _

.

**January 2013**

Rhonda woke with a start. She wasn't sure how long she's been asleep, it was still dark and the time on her cellphone said 2 a.m.

Lifting herself from the bed, Rhonda headed towards her study table and opened one of the small drawers taking out an old Polaroid picture of her and Sid. She touches it wistfully; her eyes too tired to be filled with tears again.

.

**December 2005**

_One of the reasons I've always loved winter as a kid besides how beautiful Hillwood looked covered in snow was that it was the only time of the year which was colder than the Pataki residence … that was what I felt as a child. _

_Back when Miriam was still trying wash down her miseries with her smoothies and Bob was being an abusive jerk. Back when Arnold wasn't in Hillwood to give me any reason to enjoy life._

_But that's all changed now. Miriam's been sober for almost three years now, Olga finally got her spot at Broadway, and Bob- well he's mellowed out a little. Most importantly the love of my life was back home to once again give reason to my days._

_My cellphone rang as I put on my pink coat, it was Arnold calling me to let me know that he was going to be at least fifteen minutes late for our breakfast date because his Grandmother impulsively decided to change the location of her grand piano. I could hear the commotion in the background as he shouted his excuse so I could hear over the noisy arguments between the boarders and Pookie. _

_I sighed after we ended the call and started off to Bigal's with heavy footsteps. The whole neighborhood was blanketed in a beautiful white, thick coat of snow I wished Arnold was walking with me at that moment._

_Upon entering Bigal's I found Rhonda sitting with Nadine and, to my surprise, Lorenzo was sitting with them._

"Helga!" Rhonda called out to me from their table as soon as I caught her eye.

I waved back and decided to join them anyway.

"Hey! You busy tonight?" Rhonda asked me.

"Uh- not sure. What's up?" I asked as I took a seat beside Lorenzo.

"I have the house to myself for this weekend so I decided to throw a house party, what do you say?" Lorenzo asked me.

"I'll have to see about that." I told him unsure.

"I hope Sid will be up to it." Rhonda sighed, thumbing her phone which was placed over the table.

"He's been working really hard lately, I'm sure he'll need something to unwind." Lorenzo lightly placed his hand over hers as he gave her an assuring smile before getting up. "Well ladies, I hope to see you tonight. You'll not want to miss it."

_Lorenzo gave us a cheesy wink and left._

_The reason he was so confident was his obvious wealth, he could plot up any surprise with the money his dad gives him to spend. Usually the kids at school don't stop talking about his party for weeks._

_But what stuck with me at the moment was the way Lorenzo placed his hand over Rhonda's, for some reason that seemed suspicious to me. It was a well-known fact that Lorenzo was the resident womanizer—the guy had looks, money, charm, and an accent. _

"But I don't think he'd go after Rhonda. He and Sid just became friends again." Arnold dismissed my assumption as he sipped on his hot chocolate.

"I'm telling you Arnold, something wasn't right about how he touched her!" I insisted.

Arnold seeing that I wasn't going to back down, sighed as he placed his mug down. "Ok. So let's say he may be attracted to her. Who isn't? I mean, it's Rhonda's _thing_."

_He was right. With Rhonda's charisma and looks, she was the only girl in Hillwood who could beat the number of teenage male admirers dedicated to Little Miss Perfect, a.k.a. Lila.  
A senior actually asked her to prom when we were just sophomores. _

"Remember that fight Lorenzo had with Sid over that girl? The one I told you about? "

_Arnold only returned to Hillwood last summer to attend twelfth grade; he never really caught to the high school dramas we've been through besides from what Gerald and I would tell him about._

"So you think Lorenzo's out for revenge." He concluded.

"I hate to make it sound like a daytime soap opera, but ya."

Arnold leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms contemplated for a few seconds before he asked, "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"You're asking _me_ Arnold?" I asked incredulously, "you're the one who's good at this stuff!"

Arnold was silent for a while. "Well, let's assume what you said about Lorenzo was true. All we can do for now is just keep an eye on him and avoid leaving Rhonda alone with Lorenzo."

"That's it?"

"There's nothing much we can do for now, we just need to see how things get from here and then we'll see what we can do. Besides, Rhonda's a pretty strong girl, I'm sure she can handle whatever comes her way. It's her decision eventually."

He was right. I wasn't sure why I was so worried, Rhonda and Sid are as thick as thieves—they weren't just dating for the hell of it. They were really in love with each other, it's gonna take a lot to break them up.

Sid sighed over the phone, "I wish you'd asked me first Ron." He told her as he laid lifelessly on his bed. He had a rough day at work and all he wanted to do was sleep for the rest of the weekend.

"Come on Sid, you've been working so hard don't you wanna have some fun?"

"Right now, I just need a little sleep." His voice was tired.

" … I understand." Rhonda sadly told him.

"You can go though, enjoy yourself."

That wasn't the type of enjoyment she imagined to have but she didn't want to nag. "O.k., get some rest. I love you."

.

January 2013

Arnold knocked on a door with a door sign with the name Dr. Bliss written on it.

"Come in." A gentle voice answered. He opened the door to a woman with pixie brown hair and light wrinkles over her eyes. Arnold had a vague feeling he'd met her before.

"Good morning Dr. Bliss." Arnold greeted as he allowed himself in her office.

"Good morning Mr. Shortman, welcome to the center." Her voice was soothing and she had this calm air about her, very fitting for the job she held.

"Sorry I couldn't meet you earlier," she said as she arranged some files lying around her desk. "It's been a pretty busy week for me here at the center. How do you find working here so far?"

"It's been a good experience so far, I've been interested in child psychology for a while. I thought I'd try my hand at it."

Dr. Bliss took another look at Arnold's resume and looked back at Arnold, "It says here you attended PHS 118?"

Arnold raised his brows surprised and wondering why the interest in his old school, "Uh- yes." He didn't know what else to say.

Dr. Bliss smiled at Arnold as if she could hear Arnold wondering why she lit up at the knowledge of his old school. "I've been to your school a few years back. As part of the School District's student counselling program."

"You know, I knew you seemed familiar." Arnold brightened up at the memory of her coming to Mr. Simmons' class once, something about observing the students.  
He recalled himself wondering about Mr. Simmons' nervousness at her presence; and Helga's infamous spitballs that tortured him all through middle school.

.

December 2005

"Got you the punch before anyone gets the chance to spike it." Nadine handed Rhonda a red plastic cup.

"Thanks Nadine." Rhonda gave her a weak smile before sipping on her punch. Being here without Sid was the last thing she wanted to do, not that she didn't enjoy the company of her friends but—she looked around the place. It seemed like everyone from Hillwood High was here; Gerald and Phoebe were sitting on the couch chatting, his hand was around her tiny waist. Park was shyly talking to a girl he's been crushing on since the beginning of the year, she could see Harold smoking on a cigar by the liquor cabinet at the far end of the living room with Stinky and Curly.

"You know there's a rumor going around about Sid." Nadine started.

"What about?" Rhonda asked, her stomach bubbled as her mind filled negative possibilities ranging from drugs to his mother's failing health.

"There's this girl crushing on him, big time."

Rhonda sighed internally at the revelation of just a simple high school drama- drama. Twelfth grade sort of desensitized Rhonda from the whole obsession with high school thing. With just a few months left she just wanted to hang more with friends and Sid. Besides, Sid was way too busy to even think of being with another girl besides her.

"Who is it?" Rhonda asked; just for the sake of it.

"It's the blonde over there." Nadine whispered eyeing a group of girls standing at the other end of the room. They were all dressed like the girls next door- jeans and pullovers. Rhonda noticed the curly haired blonde who looked away nervously when she noticed Rhonda looking at her.

She's pretty, Rhonda thought, even though she dressed like a boy she could still turn heads with that pretty face of hers. She was the total opposite of her …

"Do I know her from somewhere?" Rhonda asked, more to herself.

"She's in Sid's biology class." Nadine replied keeping her eye on Sheryl.

"No, no- I know I've seen her somewhere I just- "Rhonda remembered the Halloween party. She was Super Girl! She recalled her talking to Sid, and how eager Sid was to walk away from her.

"How long has she been crushing on him?" Rhonda asked suddenly interested.

"Crushing on who?" A familiar voice asked behind her.

"Sid!" Rhonda exclaimed happily giving him a hug. "What changed your mind?"

"I couldn't rest while you were here alone at a party without me looking out for you." He gave her a weak smile. "Hey Nadine."

"Hi Sid."

Rhonda playfully swatted his arm, "Don't be silly, I can take care of myself."

"I'll talk to you later." Nadine said and left.

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the slow update, again. I've been pretty busy this summer. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you for the reviews and I just wanted to say hi to my new followers and the people who added my fic to their favourites. Thanks again!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

December 2005

"Oh wow, this is beautiful!" Rhonda marveled at the snow covered garden of Lorenzo's mansion.

"Ya, this garden is beautiful at this time of the year. We'd have snowball fights on snow day before his parents get all the snow shoveled out. One summer we had a paintball fight and got paint all over the trees and bushes, you can only imagine how mad Lorenzo's mom was." Sid chuckled at the memory.

"You seem to know this place really well." Rhonda noted.

"I've known the guy since PHS 118 Rhonnie- duh."

Rhonda giggled and latched on his arm.

"How's your mom?" She asked as they walked around the garden.

Sid looked at the snow beneath his feet silently glistening in the moonlight, "The chemo is wearing her out." He told her sadly. "I just want it to be over already," Sid took a deep breath to try and suppress his tears but failed when Rhonda held him.

She's never felt more helpless in her life than at that moment. Her boyfriend was going through so much and there was nothing much she could do to make his pain go away.

.

January 2013

This neighborhood scared her when she was younger, even though she's only been here twice. But today, almost ten years later she had to come back- desperate times called for desperate measures.

A man in his fifties opened the door, "Rhonda?"

"Sorry to come by unannounced Ray." Rhonda began- She hadn't seen him for years. He looked old, whatever hair he had left over ten years ago was now gone … most of it.

"Come in." Ray stepped back to let her in.

"I wanted to ask you if you know where Sid lives or how I can contact him… ? I can't seem to be able to find Stinky or Harold."

"Rhonda honey." Ray raised both his hands slightly and slowly shook his head. "Sid hasn't talked to me for over eight years now, not even at his mother's funeral."

"What happened?" She asked concernedly.

Ray walked over to an armchair in the living room and sighed as he dropped on it heavily, "I failed him as a father."

Rhonda realized that she wasn't going to get anything from Ray and decided to leave deciding to wait for the next call from Sid … if he decided to call.

.

There's always one of them in every school; the cool teacher. He's cute, young- friends with almost all the students.

Sid has decided to teach high school economics, seeing the shenanigans he's been through in middle school and how crucial money has become to him in high school he believed economics to be the most important thing teenagers need to learn about before leaving school and be part of the real world.

As Sid walks through the hallways one morning before school he is greeted by every student that he came across on his way to his office.

One student in particular; a pretty, petite brunette with green eyes which followed him fondly before he disappeared into a corner.

.

"Mom?" Why are you calling me? Is everything ok at home?" I asked worriedly. Miriam never called me on weekdays at least during the day. Whenever she did (which has already happened only a couple of times before) it would be problems with the house … stuff I learned to fix during her drinking days. But honestly I always worry that she and Bob would get into a fight and she would relapse.

"Everything's fine honey, you worry too much!" She brazenly replied. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight."

"Dinner?" Miriam never invited me to dinner at home on weekdays.

"Yes! I'm making your favorite dessert; Peanut butter Rocky Road bites."

"Ok Miriam spill, what are you up to?"

"Wh- nothing!" She sounded offended, "Why are you so suspicious of your mother inviting her daughter? … and maybe bring along her friend."

"What friend?"

"Arnold, honey, who else?"

"Mom! You are such a cougar!"

"What! I'm not a cougar! I'm not! I just liked having him around the house! I like seeing you two together again!"

"Mom, that part of our relationship is gone. It's been gone for almost a decade, let it go already."

"Helga would you please try and invite him? Please?" I have expected her to say pretty please at that moment. She said she wanted to see me and Arnold together again but it felt like she wanted to see him more than I did.

"I can't make any promises mom, look, my lunch break is almost over I'll talk to you later alright? Bye." She was saying something more but it was too late to catch up on what she was saying since I already ended the call.

That was so weird.

.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

January 2013

"Hey Helga." Arnold said when he answered my phone call.

"Hi, Arnold. Got any plans tonight?" I asked rather regrettably

"Tonight? No." He quickly answered. "Wanna go somewhere?" he asked a little too eagerly.

"Uhhh- no. Mom was expecting some people over but they cancelled out last minute and now she has all this extra food and- I thought maybe you wanna come over… ?"

I lied. I had to! What was I expected to say? The truth?

"Sure! I'll meet you this evening." There no sign of disappointment in his reply- it was almost like he didn't where we met up, as long as I was there.

Dammit Helga! Get over yourself!

"Cool. I'll see you then."

.

Sid was sitting in a classroom after school, alone with one of his students. He couldn't wait to leave.

"So I was wondering if it would be ok if you let me turn in my assignment next week?" The pretty brunette asked as she sat over one of the desks in front of his and suggestively put one leg over the other. The miniskirt she was wearing made it easier to show her full legs as she did so.

Sid, unimpressed shook his head. "I can't do that Shane, unless you bring me a note from your doctor."

"But Mr. De Santis, I was really _sick_." She pouted.

Damn this girl is so brazen, Sid thought. He sighed as he decided to give in, "On one condition."

Shane's round eyes widened and she pursed her glossy lips as she waited eagerly for what he was going to propose.

"Just to be fair to your friends, I'm giving you one day from the submission date."

Shane's face fell. She was expecting something a little _more_ considering the signals she was putting out there for him.

"Better start now, see you tomorrow Shane." Sid gave her a taunting smile as he got up and left the classroom.

.

December 2005

One of the reasons I went to parties was to take inspiration. So many different characters gathered in one place each one with the capability of getting into different situations; so many possibilities of turning the situation into a story because that's what most writers do- to be even clearer; it comes naturally.

I'd be sitting in a corner like I am now, noticing everyone in the room, eavesdropping on the gossiping and taking in what I can use to be put into writing.

I noticed a group of people at one end of the large living room of Lorenzo's parents' mansion dancing to a generic pop song, Eugene was one of them. Despite being the resident klutz since PS 118 Eugene was pretty stable on his feet when he danced. Sheena was dancing with him when a couple of other girls came in between them and started to dance with him, at which point Eugene started to look pretty uncomfortable.

Sid and Rhonda came back in the house. The lights were dimmed but I could tell that Sid seemed really tired.

Keegan, the resident jerk and jock started getting loud and- _surprise, surprise_\- super drunk. He started dancing to music which obviously existed only in his head. People stopped dancing and started to back off his way.

"Come on ladies, gather around. I know you want this." He was telling a crowd that just stood in its place and stared at him.

Trying to save face, Keegan looked around and walked towards Sheryl who was sitting on one of the couches, pulling her suddenly sending the drink in the plastic cup she was holding spilling behind her over the couch and her friends as he dragged her towards the center of the room and started dancing with his hand still gripped over wrist. Ignoring her pleading for him to stop and leave her alone.

"I hate that guy." Sid growled and walked towards the commotion. "Hey Keegan!"

"Oh boy." Gerald sighed as he got up and readied himself in case something happens. Sid has been in a few fights over the years Gerald had known him. It wasn't that Sid was a violent person, he just stood up to people he couldn't stand … not very smart since that almost always got him into trouble.

I could also see Lorenzo started walking towards them from the other end of the room leaving behind the group of girls he was talking to earlier.

"She asked you- to leave her alone." Sid almost growled.

Keegan stared at Sid for a moment and scoffed before turning away from him, "Get lost Sid." He said.

"Hey Keegan, let go of the girl man you're drunk." Gerald told him.

"Yeah, come on. Just leave Shirley alone and go home." Arnold joined his best friend.

Sid, angered by Keegan ignoring him grabbed the jock's shoulder and pushed him away from Sheryl throwing him on the ground.

At that moment everyone backed off predicting the start of a fist-fight not wanting to get caught in between.

Harold rushed to grab hold of Keegan empowering the jock before he had the chance to lunge at Sid who was restrained by Gerald and Stinky.

"Keegan you're leaving my house now." Lorenzo ordered.

Keegan gave him a hard look and decided to comply, "Whatever man, this party blows anyway." He tipsily walked towards the door. "I'd rather go somewhere the chicks put out." He smirked.

"I'll drive you man," Connor, one of his teammates offered. "You can't drive in the state you're in."

"Leave me alone man! I can drive myself." He told his as he took out his car keys.

"This can't be good." Phoebe worriedly told me.

"Don't worry," I told her as I held up my phone. "I already called 911."

The party slowly resumed with Keegan's departure, Lorenzo turned to Sid who was sitting on a nearby couch looking pale and rubbing his temple with Rhonda by his side.

"You ok buddy?" he asked.

"I'm fine- just a little tired." His voice was heavy.

"You look more than a little tired Sid, more like exhausted." Lorenzo plopped beside Sid on the couch.

"It's my fault, I made you come here. I'm so sorry." Rhonda apologized.

"Don't apologize babe, I wanted to come." Sid pressed her hand lightly.

"How about I take you home?" Lorenzo offered. "You drove here?"

"No, I came by bus."

"Cool, come on then." Lorenzo got up and produced the keys to his BMW from his pocket.

Rhonda got up along with her boyfriend, "I drove here Lorenzo, it's fine."

"No, Rhonda. You should stay here, have a good time. Stay with your friends."

"Yeah Ron, don't leave on account of me. Besides, I don't want the girls to start threatening me so they could spend more time with you." He flashed her a weary smile.

"I'll drop him home, it's fine. You enjoy the party Rhonda."

Rhonda gave in and gave her boyfriend a peck on the lips. There was no denying that Lorenzo felt a pang in his heart at the sight of them.

I looked around for Arnold, he needed to see this.

"Excuse me guys, I need to borrow him for a while." I told Park, Curly and Iggy who were chatting with him.

"Take your time!" Curly hollered and laughed with the other guys celebrating his lame ability at coming up with a sexual innuendo on the spot.

_Losers._

"What is it Helga?" he asked me as soon as we reached an empty corner of the room.

"Lorenzo just left with Sid." I said.

"So?"

"So- he insisted Rhonda stay behind. You see where this is going?"

Arnold nodded after contemplating for a few seconds, "I think I do. But maybe you should tone down the paranoia just a tiny bit, just in case things don't go where you expect them to." He advised.

"Oh trust me, they will." I told him confidently. "You'll see."

.

"Is your place around Fourth or Fifth Street? I seem to have forgotten." Lorenzo chuckled, "You know because it's been a while since … you know what. Not that I find it funny, I just …"

Sid has already given in and fallen asleep on the passenger seat. Lorenzo looked at him with pity- he looked so weak and vulnerable. And yet he envied Sid, he wondered, what could Rhonda possibly see in him? Sid was obviously way out of her league. She was money, class, beauty. As for Sid; he was the opposite of her.

.

January 2013

"That was, once again, a wonderful dinner Mrs. Pataki." Arnold complimented. "I'm sorry but I have to get going. I have to get to work early tomorrow morning. Thanks again for having me."

"Be sure to come again Arnold, we love having you here." Miriam told him.

"I will."

"I'll walk you to the door." I told him.

"Helga." He said when we reached the door. "I was wondering if you wanna go out sometime? Like for lunch maybe?"

"Um- I'm pretty busy these days. I'll let you know."

"No problem." Arnold kept a straight face. "Good night." He said and turned to leave.

.

"Ok, what's your deal with Arnold mom? Spill." I ordered as I helped her wash the dishes later that night.

"You won't stop bugging me about this until you find out won't you?" She asked me.

"You know that your dad and I met in college? Before him there was another guy. We were perfect for each other but, I was so scared of heartbreak and disappoint that I pushed him away- just like how I did to all the other guys before him. I was so afraid to end up like my parents.

But I guess I did eventually end up like them. Back then all my friends were getting married or having kids, I was scared I'd end up alone. So I married the first guy that made me laugh. And the rest is history."

Miriam stood there silently for a couple of seconds, possibly reminiscing those times … regretting letting him go and settling for someone who _helped_ her relive her parents' broken marriage.

Fear forms a barrier between us and our dreams and opportunities that come our way and regret follows, sometimes burdening us for the rest of our lives. Haunting us with _what-ifs_ and _what could've beens._

I've spent nights pushing away thoughts of Arnold for fear of falling back for him, looking back at those days made me realize that despite him being a beacon of hope during the dark days of my life, loving him sometimes brought so much pain and heartache. And it was mostly my fault.

I hurt myself when I refused to show him that I loved him. I hurt myself and him when I made him like Lila. I hurt myself when I finally showed him my true feelings for him and he up and left to be with his parents, then he returned and I thought I could finally be happy again with him … but that wasn't the case.

He saved me from myself but I always found a way to lose any sense of control around him. I came to realize that I never did need any saving, I was capable of surviving on my own.

.

.

**Author's Note:** I didn't want to post this chapter until I found a solid reason for as to why Helga was trying hard to keep things casual between her and Arnold, because that's not what we're used to from her is it? Think about it, Arnold was supposed to be her knight in shining armor but she always finding ways to keep that from happening some way or another. Not that I'm blaming her, who could anyway?

Some way or another she would involuntarily get into some kind of shenanigan involving him, all those years after their break up in high school made her realize that.

Kudos to Craig Bartlett and the show's writers for creating and developing these characters who as kids we only viewed them as crazy middle school kids who made us laugh but revisiting the show years later as an adult to help me cope with the bout of depression I was having it made me realize the characters were a lot deeper than that. I'm sure a lot of you 90s kids would agree. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, there's more to come I promise.

On another note I decided to make up a last name for Sid, I don't understand why Craig Bartlett never gave him a last name considering he was one the recurring characters.

**Sandra Strickland, you will find out more about their past in the upcoming chapters I promise you that. This is what this fanfiction is all about in the first place. Thanks for being a loyal reader despite how long I've been taking to update, thanks for all of my readers too. And for the new followers, I'm glad you enjoyed my fic enough to put it on your list. Drop some lines, say hello- I'd love to hear from you guys, I'd love to discuss my story with you if you have anything you were wondering about.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

.

January 2013

"I even talked to his dad- nothing!" Rhonda huffed in frustration one evening when we met up for dinner.

"Why are you so bent on finding him Rhonda?" Nadine asked. "He already told you he'll leave you alone."

"He's not calling you again is he?" I asked her.

"No, he's not. There's just some unfinished business I need to take care of with him." She replied.

December 2005

She had a pretty face, that Sheryl. The only makeup she seemed to have on was a little bit of mascara over, what she was sure of, light colored eyelashes. The mascara alone made her round, blue eyes pop. That was the beauty of light colored eyes, a little makeup goes a long way.

Rhonda didn't like feeling jealous, envious or insecure; she was Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, high school princess. She didn't like comparing herself to anyone else, that's what the _other girls_ did.

I noticed Rhonda was staring at Sheryl, the way she looked at her seemed very familiar. It was almost the same way I used to look at Lila back when her presence was enough to cloud my mind with uncontrollable envy.

"Rhonda? What's the matter? You ok?" I pried.

"Ya I'm fine- I just need to check on Sid." She took out her phone and proceeded to a quieter corner to make her call.

.

Lorenzo didn't want to wake him up, he wasn't sure why but it seemed rude to wake him up when he looked so tired like that. So instead of heading to Sid's house he decided to drive around until Sid woke up. He didn't feel safe in this neighborhood anyway.

It baffled him how he threw away years of friendship over that one tiny incident. He remembered that day when he saw Stephany grabbing Sid by his hand and headed off somewhere through the crowds of students filling the hallways after their classes. He followed them where he found them enter the janitor's closet. He remembered her arms over his shoulders and her lips over his … the memory still hurt him like a fresh wound.

He remembered how Sid did his best to deny the obvious; that he was cheating with Stephany who, on the other hand, looked unapologetic.

Sid was like the brother he never had, both of them being an only child I think is what brought them closer together. But there were things about Sid that bothered him. Sid was always taking his things. Lorenzo had everything and Sid had nothing. But he didn't mind, they were practically family.

That incident was the last straw. Sid knew that Lorenzo was crazy about Stephany; heck she was all he talked about! At first he believed that the dating advice Sid gave him was coming from a good place, instead it was all a plot to get Stephany.

He thought back to when it began.

.

.

"You did this all by yourself?" Stephany asked

"Actually it was Sid's idea." Lorenzo admitted bashfully.

Lorenzo wasn't good at stuff that was actually hand-made … by him. Why make stuff when you can buy them?

Soon they were going on double dates (Stephany's suggestion) with Sid and whoever of Stephany's friends she wanted to set him up with … at least he thought so.

.

.

Sid was starting to wake up.

"How long was I out?" He asked Lorenzo as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Not long. I didn't wanna wake you up."

Sid chuckled sleepily, "Who are you kidding man? You used to wake me up in the worst ways. Remember that one sleepover in the 9th grade when you woke me up with a bucketful of water?"

Lorenzo laughed, "Remember when you woke me up with a fire extinguisher?"

Sid burst out laughing. "I still don't understood how you broke your foot!"

"I fell off the bed you idiot! How else?" Lorenzo replied in between laughs.

Sid sighed, a smile still on his face. "We were like brothers."

_What if Sid was telling the truth about that incident with Stephany? There was always that one little ray of hope that Sid was being honest about it, that it was all Stephany's fault. Maybe it was his ego that was preventing him from seeing the plain truth … that the girl he once loved wanted someone else._

"We still are." Lorenzo said turning to Sid giving him a smile.

.

High school house parties were overrated, at least on TV. That's what Jordan thought.

It was the first high school party he's been invited to and so far he didn't see what the hype was all about. His friends went off somewhere after a few sips of spiked punch leaving him alone in a crowded room full of kids who tried too hard.

He decided to leave the stuffy house and step out into the backyard for some air where there were a couple of kids taking a smoke and chatting. He's almost always felt out of place anyway; starting in middle school where he was called 'Chocolate-Boy'. Things only started to look up for him when he joined a band that played at events in his school.

Jordan's phone rang and he sees Timberly's name on the screen, he hasn't seen her all evening that he was beginning to wonder whether she came to the party or not. "Tim?" he answered and within a few seconds from the call he bolted back inside the house towards the upstairs bathroom where he found her sitting on the bathroom floor next to the toilet like a lifeless rag doll.

"Timberly." Jordan struggled to say being careful not to inhale the vomit-inducing smell of … vomit.

"Get me out of here … please." She mumbled.

.

Back at the party Gerald was going ballistic after getting a phone call.

"What is babe?" Phoebe rushed to him as he was getting ready to leave.

"My mom just called. Timberly broke her curfew and I lied that she was with me." Gerald explained frantically.

"Do you know where she could be right now?" Arnold asked.

"She was at a party with her friends and she promised she'll come back by eleven, it is twenty minutes past her curfew and she's not back home yet."

"Do you know where the party is?" Phoebe asked.

"Ya I dropped her before I came here."

"Let's go there first, maybe she's still there." Arnold suggested.

"I'll go with you two." Phoebe said.

"Do you wanna go with us Helgs?" Arnold asked me as Phoebe and Gerald rushed towards the front door.

"You guys go ahead, you probably need space in that car for Timberly." I told him, and that was actually half-true. With Sid and Lorenzo gone I might have a chance to talk to her and see if I could get anything from her about Lorenzo that could help me help her and Sid.

"Ok. I'll call you later." Arnold gave me a quick kiss and followed our friends.

Scanning the room I spotted Rhonda angrily put down her phone. Thankfully she was alone, my chance to move in and get all the details from her.

"Hey princess, what's up?" I asked planting myself beside her on the couch.

Rhonda huffed angrily, "Sid's not answering his phone! I'm worried."

"He was so tired when he left, he must've fell as soon as he reached home." I assured her. "Don't sweat it."

"You think?" I wasn't sure why she was being so doubtful.

"I'm sure of it. Come on Ronnie, this is Sid we're talking about. He's been head over heels for you since middle school."

"What if he's getting bored of me?" Her voice cracked like she was about to cry.

Ok, this is starting to get weird.

"Where's all this coming from Rhonda?" I asked concernedly.

"Nadine told me about Sheryl crushing on Sid and how she's been trying to get him." Rhonda paused for a breath as she fanned her eyes that were beginning to fill with tears. "Gosh! This is so embarrassing."

"Let's get you somewhere quieter." I suggested and took her upstairs.

.

"Here you go." Jordan handed Timberly a bottle of water and some crackers. "This'll help ease your nausea."

"How do you know all this?" Timberly asked him, still feeling sick.

"When I told my cousin that I was going to a high school party, he was more than happy to give me some advice. Said he was getting worried that I was going to graduate high school as a nerd." He explained.

"I think you're cool." Timberly told him and placed her head over his shoulder as they both sat outside the corner store. "I don't understand why they make drinking so cool. I feel so sick."

Her phone started ringing again.

"Gosh Gerald won't stop calling me." She groaned.

"Pick up, he's probably really worried about you." Jordan advised.

"I'm already in so much trouble, he'll kill me if he knew I was drinking."

"I'm sure your brother would expect you'd get into some kind of shenanigan at a high school party. Just answer, you're only gonna make things worse by ignoring him."

Timberly hesitantly accepted the call and prepared herself for some good 'ol nagging. Johanssen style.

"Timberly! Where you have been? Why haven't you answered my calls before?" Gerald was ballistic as expected.

"I'm at the grocery store with Jordan."

"Why do you sound like that? Why is your voice groggy?"

Timberly groaned, "Gerald please just come and pick me, I'm so tired."

"We're coming now, just give me ten."

.

"Wow!" Sid exclaimed after the song was over.

"Told you the sound system was awesome." Lorenzo said.

Sid chuckled as he took out his phone, "Oh no, 5 missed calls from Rhonda. I couldn't hear her from the music."

"She's probably just calling to check on you." Lorenzo said.

"I need to call her back, she won't get any sleep tonight unless she hears from me." Sid chuckled.

Lorenzo gave him a weak smile as he looked ahead as Sid called his girlfriend back.

.

"I hate feeling jealous Helga, especially feeling jealous of someone so … _mediocre_ like her." Rhonda bawled. "But I just don' trust her around him! What if she steals him away from me?"

"That's highly impossible Rhonda, you said it yourself, she's so … mediocre. That's nothing compared to you." I tried to calm her down. How did things turn to this?

"I mean look at me," I told her, "who would've thought Arnold would choose me over little miss perfect huh?"

"Rhonda finally calmed down as she turned to look at me, "Lila was so boring … she was so predictable."

"I'm sure that blonde bimbo is boring too, why would Sid leave High school royalty for some wannabe?"

I can't believe I actually said that.

"Because she seems like the cool, girl next door type?" Rhonda replied with a sniff.

"Who cares?! She's not you!"

As if on cue, Rhonda's phone began to ring.

"It's him!" she said and quickly answered. "Baby, why didn't you pick up your phone? I was getting worried!"

"Sorry babe, I was just hanging out with Lorenzo. I guess I didn't hear my phone." Sid apologized. "You sound a little tired, you still at the party?"

Rhonda turned to me, "Ya, I'm just hanging with Helga." She told him giving me a weak smile.

"Hey listen, I don't feel like going back home, and me and Lorenzo are thinking of hanging around … just driving around and see what shenanigans we can get ourselves into. Wanna join us?" Sid asked and laughed when Lorenzo shouted _'Say yes!'_

Rhonda chuckled, "Ok."

"Great. We'll pick you up in ten. I love you."

"I love you too." She said and jumped up and down excitedly like a little girl. "He's coming to pick me up!" she exclaimed to me.

"See? I told you to not sweat it." I assured her.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Rhonda gave me a tight hug. "I need to go … fix this." She giggled gesturing her face. "Thanks again!" she said one last time before leaving the room.

.

"Ya mom, we just stopped for some ice cream. We'll be home in a bit. Alright. Bye." Gerald put down his phone and looked at his sister who was lying down in the backseat of his car.

"We'll go in as soon as they turn off the lights in the house so they won't see you." Gerald told her.

"I'm so sorry Gerald." She told him in a tired voice.

"Hey, we all make mistakes. I just hope you don't do this again … or I swear I'm never letting you go to any party again." He warned gently. He didn't want to make her feel worse than she already did, he knew the feeling.

"I don't think I wanna go to any parties soon."

"Good. You just saved me a whole lot of peace of mind." He told her with a smile. "You feeling any better?"

Timberly nodded her head and drifted off to sleep.

.

"We found her with Jordan outside the grocery store." Arnold told me the story as he drove me home later that night.

"Who's Jordan?"

"Remember Chocolate Boy? He was also the kid who played at the school's Halloween party."

"That's him?" I laughed. "Wow he's grown so much! So what's he hooked on now?" I joked.

Arnold chuckled "Nothing too serious I hope."

"Ok then, I'll see you tomorrow." I said to him with a kiss when we reached my home.

"Bye. I love you." He smiled.

"I love you too."

It's sometimes scary how easily doubt can settle in and destroy any trust that took years to build. But it doesn't come in at once, instead, it trickles in slowly until it accumulates so much that comes through with so much force you're not sure what to believe anymore.

But over time, wounds can heal and trust can be built again. If we allow it to.

.

Author's Note: I thought I'd some filler characters to this chapter, namely Timberly and Chocolate boy. These kids interacted with Arnold and his friends a few times in the show I just had to bring them in this fanfiction. I honestly loved Chocolate boy, he was portrayed as some weird kid with a habit but what kid didn't have a weird habit? I'm sure we all did at some point in our lives that we eventually grew up from. In chocolate boy's case it was deeper than that, he used chocolate to fill an emptiness in him that was caused by his nana leaving him. He must have had a really lonely childhood but learned to grow from it and try to fit in the best he could without trying too hard. That's how I wanted to portray him.


	12. Chapter 12

February 2013

Sometimes the Universe finally gives you've always wanted and it's all up to you what you do when you get it or how you decide to feel about it. We can get so caught up in how we won't be satisfied until we get what we want but according to Socrates that's not the case. Maybe most of us already have what we want but we were so immersed in the feeling of dissatisfaction that it lingers into our subconscious and prevents us from enjoying the thing we've always wanted when it finally happens to us … that's my theory.

I realized that when I woke up this morning at around 4 a.m. feeling a heavy wave of loneliness wash over me. There I was, all alone when the one person who could fill that emptiness that I was causing to myself always jumped at every opportunity to be around me. And if I didn't get my head out of the clouds I'll probably end up forever alone.

.

February 2014

Arnold never expected he'd see her again after high school. But there she was, standing in front of him at the baked goods aisle at the department store, her bright red hair was cut into a short bob. She wore a black blouse and black pants and had on really dark sunglasses, like she was hiding something.

"Arnold! It's really _you_." Lila smiled still not taking off her sunglasses.

"Lila, I barely recognized you!" Arnold said.

"I didn't have any trouble recognizing you." Lila giggled. "You live nearby?"

"Ya, my place is five blocks away. You?"

"Two blocks away, I just moved here a couple of weeks back."

"I guess that explains why I haven't run into you before."

"I take it you frequently shop here."

"They got the best produce." Arnold explained showing his shopping cart which had some fresh looking vegetables.

Lila chuckled, "I agree. So how are things on your end? You're married?" she asked.

"I was engaged once … just didn't work out." Arnold shrugged.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Arnold couldn't tell half her facial expression due her sunglasses. But her mouth frowned a bit. Her lips seemed dry and he noticed it start to bleed.

"Lila your lower lip, it's bleeding."

"Oh!" Lila immediately grabbed a crumpled tissue from her bag and dabbed it on her bleeding lip. "I have this cut on my lower lip that I thought healed already but … " She tried to smile a bit. "Which reminds me, I need chap-stick. I almost forgot I was all out. You know, we should hang out sometime, see what we've been up to all these years."

"Sure. Uh- why don't you take my number? Give me a missed call so I can save yours."

Lila smiled as she took out her phone and typed in Arnold's number.

.

February 2006

"_Hey Tim." Jordan greeted Timberly by her locker._

"_Hey Jor." Timberly quipped with a smirk._

"_What are you doing tonight?" He asked looking a little serious than earlier._

"_Uh, maybe homework …. Why?" _

"_Wanna do it together?" Jordan looked at her dead in the eye._

"_What?" _

Before she knew it he grabbed by her arms and planted a kiss on her lips. Causing her to wake with a start and find herself that morning in her bed.

"Whoa." Timberly gave out a sigh of relief being thankful it was only a dream.

By the time she got to school, Timberly had already forgotten about the weird dream she's had that morning.

"Wow look at all the Valentine's decorations up in here." Kim noted at the fully decorated hallways of their school. "You got asked to the dance yet Timberly?"

"Nope." Timberly shook her as she put in the combination to her locker.

"Jordan never asked you?" Kim asked surprised.

"What?" Timberly turned to her friend.

"You two are always together." Kim replied.

"So? He's just a friend." Timberly said tuning back to her locker to get her books out. A funny feeling brewed in the pit of her stomach.

"Hey girls, what's up?" Leah came over to where her two friends were standing.

"She doesn't have a date to the dance next week." Kim answered tilting her head towards Timberly.

"What? Jordan didn't ask you yet?" Leah furrowed her dark eyebrows at Timberly.

"Ok!" Timberly snapped closing her locker door loudly. "What is going on?" she asked crossing her arms over books.

"We just thought you and Jordan were you know … together?" Leah told her.

"You are my closest friends, you think I wouldn't tell you if that were the case?"

"Ya but Timberly, you see, we thought we'd give you some space and time to be more clear about your feelings." Kim explained as they started walking to their classes.

"It's just so weird … "Timberly told them. "This morning I had this strange dream- about him."

Kim and Leah shrieked and begged her to tell them about it but were interrupted by the bell.

"Saved by the bell." Timberly grinned. "I'll see you girls at lunch."

.

Valentine's Day always seemed overrated to me even before I dated Arnold. When I was younger, every Valentine's, I'd dream of what it would be like when Arnold and I were finally together as a couple: romantic dates, valentine's day cards in my locker, flowers, large bar of chocolate or heart shaped candy, stuffed animals … all the cheesy lovey-dovey stuff.

But every year I notice that this holiday is more about buying overpriced themed items to prove their love to each other … which in reality is them showing off to the world how cute they are.

Arnold doesn't seem to mind it, in fact, I think he really enjoys V-day so I go with the flow. After all, I already have what I always wanted.

The Valentine's Day dance next week was all the girls ever talked about during lunch.

"Could we talk about something else already?" I huffed in exasperation.

"No we can't Helga, the dance is next week and we need to prepare." Rhonda said.

"Ya stop being a killjoy Helga." Nadine retorted.

I just rolled my eyes at them and grabbed my soda can placing my finger on the ring and pulled it open.

"Is it that time of the month Helga?" Sheena asked concernedly.

"Sheena, I'm eating here. And no." I replied.

"Helga's like that every day." Rhonda joked and laughed with the rest of the girls on my account.

Over at the boys' table:

"Jeez Rhonda won't stop talking about the dance!" Sid sighed "I mean I love being able to celebrate V-Day with her, it's just, why complicate it with so much darn planning?"

"I feel you man," Gerald agreed with him. "I don't understand why complicate something as simple as dressing up and going to the dance and have a good time?"

"You know who's got it easy? Arnold." Harold pointed his thumb at the blonde boy sitting on his right. "I doubt Helga cares about any of this girl stuff."

"Watch out Arnold, halfway into freshman year at college and she'll want to break up with you because she changed _interests_." Curly air-quoted the last word.

The other guys laughed and Arnold just rolled his eyes at them.

"Helga's pretty cool about this stuff. She sees through it all, all she wants to do is be herself and just have a good time with me."

" … Regina wants me to pick her up in a limo wearing a fancy suit and holding a bouquet of Red roses." Stinky told them his tone full of defeat. "I can barely afford the suit let alone the limo, I don't know what to do." He sighed as Sid gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.

"That ain't right." Gerald said shaking his head.

"Break up with her." Curly coolly advised as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Break up a few days before valentine's day, that's a great idea Curly." Harold sarcastically told him. "Regina won't let it go easy."

"I agree with Curly," Lorenzo chimed in. "I have observed Stinky being nothing other than a gentleman towards Regina but she has failed to see his love for her and just parades around with him using him as an arm candy. A man is not simply a bank account to buy his woman material things."

"It's ironic that you should say that." Harold said.

"I agree with Lorenzo," Arnold sided with Lorenzo. "Stinky, you were an awesome boyfriend to Regina but she's been taking you for granted. I say let her go, you deserve better."

"Ya Stinky, we got your back. Don't worry about it." Sid encouraged him.

"Thanks guys, I agree with you all of y'all. I'll walk to up to her right now and break it up with her." Stinky announced standing up from his seat but was quickly pulled back down by his friends.

"After school." Sid advised.

"Gotcha." Stinky nodded.

.

Timberly opened up the folded note in her hand to read its contents for the fifth time as she waited for him in the empty hallway by his locker.

Jordan had given her this note during the second period in class, what was written on it made her heart skip a beat every time she read it.

'_Meet me by my locker at lunch'_

Could it be that her dream actually meant something? That Jordan wanted her more than just as a friend? Just yesterday she never thought of him that way and then everything changed this morning!

So many questions raced through her mind: Was him being one of her closest friends actually a plan to get closer to her? Was his loyalty towards her all out of love? Was he going to ask her to the dance next week?

"Sorry I'm late." Jordan woke her from her thoughts as he stood closer to her looking around cautiously.

"It's uh … it's fine." Timberly tried to keep her composure. The suspense was killing her!

"I need to tell you something, I'm not sure how to say it." Jordan shifted nervously.

"What is it Jordan?" Timberly placed her hand over his arm to keep him still.

Jordan finally faced her, took a deep breath as he pursed his lips and smiled before finally spilling the beans.

"I wanna ask Kylie to the dance."

.

"What?!" Leah and Kim exclaimed in unison. The three had an emergency meeting after school at her place.

"I never felt so humiliated in my life!" Timberly groaned digging her face in her pillow.

"Aww Timmy it's not your fault." Leah assured her as she gave her a hug.

"Ya, we're sorry we put that idea in your head." Kim apologized.

"It's that stupid dream. Gosh! Why can't dreams just mean what they're supposed to mean?"

A few seconds of silence were interrupted by Leah asking, "Why Kylie?"

"Because she's hot." Timberly sourly replied.

"Na-unh," Kim shook her head at Timberly "She ain't hot, in fact, she ain't got nothing on you girl."

"Ya, you're ten times the girl Kylie is."

As much as Timberly wished that Jordan would see Kylie the way her two best friends saw her, that little white lie was what she needed to feel a little better … for now.

.

Author's Note: Timberly's situation was based on something I went through in high school. I had a guy best friend who everyone thought we were cute together and then I have this random dream about him that made me see him in a different light and BAM! He texts me one day telling me about this new girl he met. It still seems crazy to me almost ten years later.

LeDawn: They really are cute aren't they? And as much as I love them as a couple it just didn't sit too well with me for turning them to a couple. But maybe I might reconsider it …? You'll probably find out in later chapters ;)

SandraStrickland: That's the thing about Rhonda, she was originally a stuck up yuppie but all those years in public school and with the friends she has grounded her a bit. I love to imagine that if The Patakis show was ever made this was how Rhonda would be portrayed. She may seem untouchable but she really is a teenage girl with insecurities just like any other girl her age.  
And thank you for enjoying my writing and I don't mind that you find my use of language learnable. I'm not a native speaker of English myself and I learned a lot from other writers, that's how it is.


	13. Chapter 13

February 2006

It was the longest week for Timberly and come Friday afternoon she was glad it was finally over. Fortunately she had a few things look forward to over the weekend. None of her teachers had assigned any homework, she gets to hang with her friends, Jamie-O was staying over for the week and a couple of days away from seeing Jordan with his new girlfriend.

She did her best to avoid him all week, very hard work, but it paid off. Saved her the uncomfortable and painful feeling of jealousy and heartbreak.

"So how's senior year goin' for you Gerald? You better not be slackin'." Jamie-O asked him during dinner that evening.

Gerald swallowed his food and pointed his fork at Jamie-O, "Don't worry Jamie-O, nobody's out to break your record of slacking off during senior year."

"Punk-ass." Jamie-O scorned throwing some peas at Gerald.

"Boys why can't you two act like adults for once!" Mrs. Johanssen scolded.

"Sorry mama, you know I've been gone for too long I need to return the balance of my presence in this house." Jamie-O brazenly joked earning a smack on the back of his head from his father.

Timberly loved having Jamie-O over, it was too quiet at home without him. Plus, he always knew how to lift her spirits up whenever she was feeling down.

"What about you baby girl?" Jamie-O turned to her. "What's been going on in your life?"

"She's going to a Valentine's Day dance next week." Her mother answered for her giving her a coy smile.

"What makes you think I'm going?" she asked her challengingly.

"Jordan didn't ask you out?" Gerald wondered.

"Why does everyone assume that we're together?!" Timberly snapped leaving everyone around the table looking at her in shock. She came to her senses instantly and apologized for her actions, asking to be excused from the table.

.

February 2013

I'm used to waking up alone early in the morning, I've been used to it ever since I found my own place to live four years ago.

But when I woke up this morning at four I felt a new kind of loneliness wash over me. This one I couldn't ignore or brush off like before … this one stayed and took over me like it was telling me something.

Little did I know that later on that afternoon Arnold had agreed to meet Lila for lunch; had I not called a couple of hours before the time they agreed to meet, had I not impulsively asked to meet him and hang out under the guise that it was Friday and that's what weekends are for … hanging out.

Arnold heard a couple of rings on the other end of the line before she picked up,

"Hello Arnold." Lila replied.

"Hey Lila," Arnold rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "uhh listen, I'm sorry I have to cancel lunch today … something came up."

"Oh." He could hear the disappointment in her voice. "That's ok. Maybe next time."

"Ya, next time." He agreed before hanging up.

Surprisingly, he didn't feel any guilt for flaking on her. She was always going to be around; for now he had more important things to deal with.

Lila put her phone down and let out a sad sigh- she really looked forward to being with Arnold. But he flaked on her, he let her down. Like many men have done so in her life.

She couldn't trust them anymore—the men. They broke her heart, cheated on her, flaked on her. They abused her. Like her ex-husband.

Lila looked at her reflection on her room's vanity, she touched the skin below her right eye which just a little over two weeks ago was bruised and swollen. That was the last straw, she decided to take a stand and get a divorce.

It wasn't so easy, he wanted to make sure of it. Her ex-husband made sure he'd put her through hell even when she wanted to leave. She remembered his loud voice shouting obscenities at her, spitting out threats of how she'll pay for wanting to leave him.

He almost punched her like he did a couple of times before but froze when she pulled out her gun on him. Her hands trembled as she held her weapon but the shaking wasn't from fear, but from rage. It took all of her strength to prevent her finger from pulling the trigger and leave his house to safety.

.

February 2006

"Hey baby girl." Jamie-O knocked on Timberly's bedroom door later that evening.

"Sure." She nodded as she moved some stuff from her bed to allow him to sit down.

"Everything ok with you in school?" he asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Timberly sighed as she said, "If this is about me going ballistic during dinner I'm sorry. I don't know why I flipped out."

"If I know one thing about girls is that flipping out is a pretty normal occurrence." He joked making his little sister smile. "Just don' make it a habit though."

"It's just—I didn't want to like him more than a friend in the first place. I was happy with us being friends, but then I had this dream about him and everyone seemed to think there was something between us-"Timberly frantically explained.

"Woah, Woah, Woah!" Jamie beckoned her to slow down "Tim calm down I couldn't get a word from what you just said."

Timberly took a deep breath and started explaining everything from the beginning. Starting with the dream, to her friends' suggestion to go for it, to the shock and pain from realizing that he liked someone else.

"Now that's why I don't date friends." Jamie said to her. "Too messy."

"I never looked at Jordan as anything more than a friend, I shouldn't have let anyone convince me otherwise." She sullenly said hugging her stuffed animal.

"That's the thing about crushes and love baby girl, you never see them coming. They're just a part of life and so are heartbreaks and disappointments. Look at me." He pointed both his hands at himself. "I'm twenty-five and I still haven't found the right girl to bring home and introduce to y'all. You never liked him, at least no like that, you just liked the thought of him and you as more than friends."

"You're right." Timberly agreed.

"I always am." Jamie-O joked. "Great. I'll have to go sleep now, I need some rest." He told her planting a little kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight baby girl."

"Goodnight big brother."

.

February 2013

I thought I reached the bar early but there he was, sitting at one of the tables waving at me.

"Hey." I greeted as I came over.

"Hey." He smiled. "I'm glad you called, I really needed to unwind today."

Those words made my heart swell but I tried to keep my cool on the surface.

"Stressful day at work?" I casually asked.

"Yeah … stressful." He parroted while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I've never been one of those TGIF people anyway," I continued. "The weekend ends too soon to even think about."

"Same. I never cared much about weekends since after college."

"What did you do after college?" I asked just before a waitress came over to take our orders.

After that was done with, Arnold went back to my question.

"I spent a year looking for a job but when I couldn't find anything I thought I'd go help out my parents at San Lorenzo."

"Helping the _poor_ and the _needy_." I teased as I waved around the breadstick causing to pause and frowned at me.

"I'm sorry- I was just … joking?" I squeaked … I don't know why I reverted back to my old self.

"Go ahead."

Arnold chuckled like it was nothing and continued, "I spent a year there before I came back to Hillwood and now I'm interning at Hillwood Medical Center." He took a bite out his breadstick before asking me. "Do you remember a Dr. Bliss?"

Do I? I practically poured y heart out to her. She was the first adult willing to listen to me and the first person that I admitted to about my love for Arnold.

Come to think of it, I never mentioned her to Arnold. He left almost a year later and when he came back to Hillwood in high school we were already busy catching up, hanging out and, dealing with high school and high school drama.

Dr. Bliss was a big part of my life but for some reason she never came up in a conversation with him. Up until now.

"How could I forget her?" I told him fondly.

"You know her that well?" he asked.

"She was one of the best things to ever happen to me as a kid." I started and proceeded to tell him about everything about me and her.

How she was a big part of my old life; actually the catalyst to a new chapter of my life where I was able to shed all the burden of my miserable childhood and become a better person who was able to control her emotions and get through everything life threw at her.

.

February 2006

"Has anyone seen Eugene lately?" Arnold asked the boys as they gathered that Sunday afternoon to play basketball at the court.

"I haven't seen him all week at school." Park noted.

"Me either." Sid agreed dribbling the ball.

"Maybe I should go check on him." Arnold, always the caring one volunteered.

"I'm coming with you." Sid passed the ball to Stinky and followed Arnold.

"Where y'all goin' guys, we just about to start playin'." Stinky called out to them.

"Slaussen's is on the way to Eugene's place, I feel like having a Sundae." Sid replied with a grin.

"You better not be plannin' on playin' after that Sundae man, I don't wanna none of that mess." Gerald told him making a face as he unintentionally imagined how things would turn out if Sid played on a full stomach.

"Don't worry about that Gerald, I've seen him play a lot of times right after eating. The guy has a stomach like a gazelle. It can keep the food in place while he moved." Harold told him. "Now let's shoot some hoops already!"

"So how's your mom Sid?" Arnold asked as they went on their way.

Sid sighed and took off his baseball cap running his hand through his short hair.

"She's- hanging on, fighting through it. She's a strong woman, I know she'll make it." Sid gave Arnold a smile as he put his cap back on.

Arnold smiled back at him and placed an encouraging hand over his shoulder, "I'm sure she is."

.

"Here we are ladies." Jamie-O announced to Timberly and her two best friends when they reached the cinema.

"Thanks Jamie-O." Timberly said as she and her friends started going out of his car. "Come pick us up by ten."

"Kay, be safe baby girl." Jamie turned to Kim and Leah. "Don't have too much fun." He told them causing them to giggle and drove away.

"Your brother is soooo- hot." Leah exclaimed causing Timberly to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, gross." She said to her.

"He is, Tim." Kim agreed with Leah "You need to invite us to your place more when he's around."

Timberly half ignored Kim's remark and proceeded to order their tickets, "Three tickets for Final Destination 3 please."

"Hey!" A familiar voice greeted, Timberly turned to find Jordan with his new girlfriend standing beside him.

_Kylie. _She thought bitterly, Timberly was by now fine with Jordan dating but something about Kylie didn't sit right with her.  
She didn't know much about Kylie, except that she always wore band t-shirts with jeans and combat boots and mostly hung out with guys.

"Hey Jordan." Timberly smiled.

Jordan nodded at Kim and Leah who responded by waving back.

"You guys going to watch Final _Destination 3_ too?" He asked eyeing the tickets in her hand. "We should get seats next to each other. That cool with you _Kyls_?"

Kylie shrugged with a smile wrapping her arms around his, "Cool."

As soon as his back was turned to get tickets Kylie shot her the dirtiest look anyone had ever given her sending shockwaves down her spine.

"We'll meet you girls inside." Jordan told them.

"Omigosh! Tell me I wasn't the only one that saw that!" Leah said incredulously when she was sure Jordan and Kylie were out of earshot.

"That was scary." Timberly's voice shivered.

"I don't like her, not one bit!" Kim shook her head.

"Me either." Tim agreed.

.

Author's Note: So finally, Lila made an appearance in my story. I just wasn't sure where to put her earlier in my story but she's here now. I also thought of adding a little scene with Arnold and Sid, these two were pretty good friends and I think they'd be best friends if Gerald and Stinky weren't around to keep them from each other, hehe.  
Once again, thanks for taking the time to read my baby (I hold my written works dearly to my heart) and keeping up with my late updates. Thanks for following my story, for adding it your favorites and for taking the time to review the chapters.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Author's Note: I had to write a few changes ... major ones actually, and rewrote this chapter. I'm honestly happy with where it's going and I hope my readers will feel the same. Happy reading guys!

LeDawn: I guess we'll have to see Timberly's loyalty to her friendship with Jordan (Chocolate Boy) … but I'm sure we already know that.

Guru115: Thank you so much for appreciating my work. It's beautiful isn't it? This place—I remember discovering it when I was going through some hard times a few years ago. And in some way, reliving precious memories from my childhood when times were easier and connecting with people who I can relate to in terms of these memories.

.

February 2006

Timberly stood helplessly in her spot looking at her best friend screaming at his girlfriend on the school parking lot. She'd never seen him so mad, so angry- she never expected him to know what anger is, Jordan had always been so laid back and cool.

Kylie was standing there, dumbfounded and shocked that she'd been caught and that her boyfriend was lashing out at her.

"We're done! You're dumped!"

Timberly heard Jordan say as he started to walk away from Kylie leaving her motionless with shock. A little later a police car breaking the silence of the place.

Stinky was also in the parking lot standing next to his battered car that was destroyed by a hooded stranger an hour ago.

.

28 hours earlier:

Only one day left for the Valentine's Day dance, and preparations were going on at the school's auditorium.

Jordan had asked Timberly earlier in the day before school, if she wanted to volunteer to help him and some other students set up the decorations for the dance.

"Hey!" Jordan beamed from his spot over the ladder at the sight of Timberly just entering the auditorium.

"Hey." She responded looking up at him.

"Just a sec while I finish hanging this banner." He told her proceeding to staple the banner and coming down from the ladder.

"Sorry I'm late, my locker was stuck again."

Jordan chuckled knowingly, he's helped her so many times before with that darn locker.

"So … where's Kylie?" Timberly asked, looking around cautiously. That girl was really unsettling and if it wasn't to help out Jordan, Timberly wouldn't think of being anywhere near him with her around.

Jordan ran his fingers through his short, dark hair and sighed slightly, "She had to go to her job at the Thrift Store."

Timberly scoffed internally,

'_Thrift Store, of course, what other part time job would little-miss-alternative have?'_

But she was glad that Kylie wasn't around; she missed spending time together with Jordan, one of her closest friends.

"Ok, so what can I help with?" Timberly asked, placing her hands over her hips and looking around.

"Get a stapler from that table so we can hang up some decorations." Jordan climbed the ladder and pointed to a table filled with supplies at one corner of the auditorium.

As Timberly reached for the stapler she was surprised at another hand slightly bigger than hers reaching out for the same item.

"Oh! Hey Timberly- did you wanna use the stapler?" Russell asked.

Russell was the school quarterback. He had the typical jock look: big athletic build, good looks. Blonde haired and blue-eyed … girls wanted to date him, boys wanted to be friends with him.

But despite his popularity, Russell was still the down to earth boy she's known since primary school. He wasn't always the hot stuff he is today, just three years ago he was the quiet, fat kid that nobody besides the kids who teased him noticed.

"Ya, Jordan needed it to put up some decorations. You can have it if you won't take long with it."

"Na it's cool, I was just picking up stuff to help around. Let me help you guys out."

"Sure." Timberly shrugged.

"So are you going to the dance tomorrow?" Russell asked as they walked towards Jordan.

"No."

"Not a party person huh?"

"Not since the last one." Timberly mumbled, she felt her stomach bubble at the memory of that night gone wrong.

"Yo Jordan!" Russell said as they neared him.

Jordan, surprised, raised his brows at the two.

"Hi." He responded.

"Anything you need help with?"

"Uh … we're probably gonna need some more balloons."

"On it." Russell jokingly saluted like a soldier and ran over to another table.

"I didn't know you're friends with Russell." Jordan said to her.

Timberly smiled at him as she handed the stapler.

"I've known him since second grade, we're not really friends. He's just friendly with everyone." She explained.

.

Arnold and Sid finally reached Eugene's house and knocked on the door which was answered by his mom. She seemed pretty anxious to see them, since that only meant one thing.

"Hello Arnold- Sid. I suppose you two are here to check on Eugene?"

"You read our minds Mrs. Horowitz." Sid smiled cheekily.

"I'm sorry but he's too tired to see anyone." Was her excuse.

Sensing she was hiding something Arnold pried, "He hasn't come to school for a week, is he alright Mrs. Horowitz?"

"He's recovering from- food poisoning." Was her even more suspicious reply.

"Oh. I see. Well, I hope he gets better soon."

Mrs. Horowitz gave him a weak smile as she thanked them for dropping by and as the boys walked back towards their friends at the basketball court Sid asked the question that was on Arnold's mind.

"Do you believe what his mom said? About the food poisoning?"

" … Maybe it was a really serious case of food poisoning. You know what they say about Eugene." Arnold gave a weak laugh to mask his nervousness. He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Sid or himself.

"Food poisoning only takes a couple of days before it goes away. I'm sure the same thing applies for a jinx like Eugene." Sid bit his lower lip and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Something's up."

"So what do you propose Sid? That we sneak into his room at night and beat the truth out of him?"

"I'm not that violent Arnold."

Arnold sighed, shaking his head. "We'll just wait for him to come to school next week and we'll ask him."

.

"Ok great job kids! This is perfect! I'm so proud of you!" Mrs. Reeve applauded the students after they were done decorating. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Bye Timberly." Russell smiled as he walked past her and headed towards the exit.

Everyone was starting to leave the auditorium and Timberly turned to say Goodbye to Jordan who let out a frustrated sigh as he flipped closed his phone.

"What's wrong?"

"Kylie's not answering her phone." He replied disgruntled, not tearing his eyes away from his phone which was in his hand.

"Maybe it's on silent …?" Timberly couldn't believe that she said that.

He turned to Timberly as he placed his phone in his pants pocket, breathed in deeply and asked. "Let's hang out at the arcade."

"Sure."

Timberly's cellphone beeped notifying her of a new message. It was from Kim with a photo attached.

"Tim! You coming?"

Timberly looked up from her phone to find Jordan already at the exit waiting for her to catch up to him.

"Ya just give me a minute, I need to make a call." She responded already placing the phone to her ear.

"Ok, I'll wait for you outside." He pointed his thumb behind him.

She nodded at him and started walking around instinctively waiting for Kim to pick up her phone, which didn't take long since Kim picked up after two rings.

"Did you see the photo?" she asked before Timberly could say anything.

"Ya, why did you send me a photo of random people at the mall?"

"No girl, look at it closely."

Timberly complied and took another look at the picture.

_Oh … my ... gosh!_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

February 2006

It couldn't be … it can't possibly be her! Jordan will be devastated if what Kim had implied turned out to be true!

There had to be an explanation as to what Kylie was doing at the mall with another guy when according to Jordan, aka her boyfriend!- - was supposed to be at her job in the Thrift Shop.

"Yes! I win again!" Jordan exclaimed as his name blinked on the video game's screen announcing that he's the newest high scorer of the game.

Timberly gave him a weak smile, "You got lucky."

"Loser gets to buy the winner pizza." Jordan grinned and started dragging her towards the pizza place across the street from the arcade.

Timberly did her best to act like nothing was wrong. Jordan was acting a little strange as well, not once did he mention Kylie or even checked his phone! What was going on?

Were they breaking up? Were they on a break? …

"Tim?" Timberly woke up from her trance to find Jordan staring quizzically at her. "Everything ok?"

"Uh, yeah. I just some stuff going on my mind."

"Care to share?"

"Not today … "Timberly was silent for a bit, looking down her hands folded over her lap. "How about you? How are things between you and Kelly- I mean Kylie!"

She was so nervous talking about Kylie that she couldn't think straight!

"We're cool, she's pretty laid back about our relationship."

"Laid back?" That didn't sound good.

"Ya, she's not into all that stuff other couples do. Ya we're _together,_ but she needs her space … like I how I need mine. So we don't get tired of each other."

.

"Was he trying to convince you? Or himself?" Kim asked rhetorically sitting cross legged on Timberly's bedroom floor.

"Maybe it's not what it seems?" Leah tried to reason from her spot on a blue bean bag.

"It is what it seems alright? I know what I saw." Kim raised her eyebrows and nodded her head up and down. "Why didn't you show Jordan the photo I sent you?"

"I just couldn't." Timberly hugged her pillow tighter as she sat on her bed. "I guess I didn't wanna see him heartbroken."

"That's a fact of life Timberly."

"Who was that guy with her anyway?" Leah asked.

"I couldn't recognize him, he could be from a different school." Kim answered. "That's so she wouldn't get caught. I'm sure girl's a pro."

"Ok, how about we let him catch her in the act?" Leah suggested.

"How?" Timberly asked.

"We need to monitor her movements and get _solid_ proof of her cheating on Jordan."

"How are we gonna do that?"

"A criminal always returns to the scene of the crime." Kim said. "So tomorrow after school we head straight to the mall."

"But the dance is tomorrow. I think she's going." Timberly told them.

"Ok, we'll go on another day then." Leah said as she got up from her spot on the bean bag and sat beside Kim on the floor and grabbed an open bag of chips in front of her. "Kim! You finished all the chips!"

"I was hungry!"

Timberly smiled and put her pillow away, "Wanna go to Slausen's?"

The girls agreed and they headed off.

They were nearing Slausen's and waited for the light to turn green on the traffic signal when Kim saw a familiar couple coming out of Slausen's.

She looked at both her friends and wasted no time in grabbing both their hands taking them to an alley between the buildings behind them.

"Did you see that?" Kim whispered as she carefully looked out from behind that wall to check if Kylie and her mystery man were walking their way. But they weren't.

"You sure it's not Jordan?" Kylie asked, squinting her eyes at the couple who got smaller and smaller. She couldn't trust her eyesight during daylight, at night she wished she were wearing night vision goggles.

"He's blonde." Timberly told her looking angrily at the couple, she could burn holes in the back of their heads. "Come on."

Timberly came out of the space and started following them. Her friends followed behind.

As she started crossing the road she heard a car honk.

It was Jamie-O in his car stopped at the traffic light, "Hey Timberly! You girls need a ride somewhere?"

"Jamie-O! Great timing!" Timberly and her friends quickly got in the backseat of his car. "We need you to help us follow a couple of kids. They went that way."

As soon as the light turned green, Jamie-O and the girls were on their tails.

"That's them! Slow down!" Timberly whispered as she and the girls hid a little behind the seats.

"So, who are we following?" He asked them, not taking his eyes away from the two.

"Some player girl from school." Leah responded.

Jamie-O scrunched up his nose, "What business do you girls have with her?"

"It concerns a good friend of ours." Timberly told him. "I'll explain more later."

"Look, I couldn't care less about your high school drama. Just as long as you're not getting into trouble." Jamie-O told her.

"I'm not. We're just helping." She responded not tearing her eyes away from the couple who finally stopped in front of a house.

He kissed her lightly on the lips and waited for her to enter her house before finally walking away.

"Want me to follow him too?" Jamie-O asked knowingly.

"No. I'm good." She replied looking down at the photo she had just taken with her phone.

The photo on the screen disappeared and Jordan's number appeared causing her to drop her phone in surprise.

She imagined that the shocked looks on her friends' faces mirrored the look on her face, she quickly picked up her phone and took a deep breath before answering his call.

"H-Hello?"

"Hey Tim. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang for a bit."

"Uh … can't, I'm with the girls." She felt bad for lying to him ... sort of lying.

Later that night, back home in her bedroom, Timberly sat cross-legged on her bed with her laptop over her legs, looking through profiles of all the guys' on Kylie's friends list in her Hi-5 profile. There was a lot of them. And even though she couldn't clearly see his face, she remembered his hair.

_Chad Reeves_, Timberly scoffed at his name. He was a year older than them, captain of the soccer team, and he went to a private school. Relationship: Single. No pictures of him and Kylie together. The comments between them on each other's pictures are like normal friends.

That kiss sure wasn't.

Timberly finished creating a new profile, labelled it as anonymous. She wrote a message telling him that Kylie wasn't what she seemed. That to prove it, he had to come to tomorrow's dance- - without telling her.

Jamie-O knocked on her bedroom door.

"Come in."

"Hey Tim, busy?" He asked looking down at her laptop.

"No." she answered slowly closing her laptop.

"Look, Imma ask you again, and I need an honest answer. You're not getting yourself into some kind of trouble are you?"

"Jamie-O," Timberly sighed, "I'm not! Trust me!"

.

Timberly stared at Kylie feeding Jordan fries the next day at school during lunch.

"Sickening isn't it?" Leah took the words right out of Timberly's mouth.

"It'll all be over soon." Kim predicted. "Fingers crossed."

Timberly started having doubts about all of this, she wondered if it would've been better had she told Jordan first. She remembered the other night's conversation with her brother after she had explained everything to him.

But what's done has been done, all she can do now is hope for the best.

Later that day, after school, Timberly was getting ready for the dance. She tugged at her strapless, violet, midi dress to straighten it out before hearing Gerald calling her from downstairs asking her if she was ready.

Gerald was ready to call out for her again, but Timberly was already coming down the stairs.

"Oh look at you, my baby girl's grown!" Mrs. Johanssen gushed, rushing to plant a kiss on her daughter's cheek.

"Ok Gerald, stand next to your sister and let me take a picture." Mr. Johanssen instructed and his two children rolled their eyes as they complied.

"Alright can we go now? I need to pick Arnold up." Gerald said impatiently.

"What about Phoebe?" His mother asked.

"She and the other girls are going by Limo." Gerald replied, fixing his tie and opening the front door. "Come on Timberly."

"Baby girl wait!" Jamie-O rushed to her before she left the door. "Take this." He said as he handed her a can of pepper spray.

"But Gerald's gonna be there."

"Don't you argue with me young lady, just keep it you just in case."

"Fine."

Gerald finally reached Arnold's house who was waiting for him outside the Sunset Arm's stoop.

As Timberly got out of the car to get in the backseat, so Arnold could sit with Gerald; the blond boy complimented her on her outfit telling her how pretty she looked, causing the heat to rise to her cheeks.

Even after knowing him for so long, Arnold could still make her blush.

.

The auditorium was packed and Timberly wished she wore heels so she could look over the crowds of students and find her friends. She was already taller than most girls in her grade, but most of the boys were taller than her.

She heard someone call out her name and turned to find Jordan with his girlfriend standing beside him.

Timberly tried her hardest to act calm as she walked towards the couple._ 'Just stick to the plan Timmy, it'll all be over soon' _she said to herself.

"Hey you two."

"Hey Tim, you look great!" Jordan complimented her.

She could see that Kylie was trying her best to act like it was nothing.

"Ya, you look good." Kylie said. "Too bad you don't have a date for the dance."

"That's fine." Timberly wasn't really bothered by Kylie's words. "I'm just here to enjoy myself."

"I can dance with you if you like, you're cool with that Kylie right?" Jordan placed his right arm over Kylie's shoulders.

"Uh … sure!" Timberly could tell that Kylie completely lost her cool.

"Thanks Jordan, I'm gonna go over to Kim and Leah. They're over there. See ya."

Even as Timberly walked away, she could feel Kylie's death stare. Timberly almost didn't care, because in a couple of hours things will back to what they were before she came into the picture.

"So how do we know if he's coming?" Kim asked, feeling anxious.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Timberly answered calmly.

The music started playing and everyone started dancing. Leah joined her date leaving her two friends behind. Timberly then felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find Russell standing behind her with his million dollar smile.

"Hey liar," He joked. "I thought you said you weren't coming!"

Timberly giggled, "Ya it was a last minute … thing."

"So who'd you come with?" He asked, looking at Kim standing behind her.

"No one, what about you? Where's your date?"

"She sprained her ankle when she fell down the stairs at her house."

"Ouch!"

"I know! She couldn't make it, so she told me to go instead since I was all dressed up. What about Jordan? Where is he?"

"He came here with Kylie."

"Kylie?" Russell said almost surprised and abruptly stopped dancing.

"What's wrong?" She asked him. Could there be some other guy in PHS 118 who agreed that Kylie was bad news?

Before Russell had the chance to say anything Kim had interrupted them and took Timberly to a corner.

"Kylie just left." She informed Timberly.

"What?! Where?"

"It seemed like she went to the bathroom, but I'm guessing mystery man is here."

Timberly found Jordan standing alone by the snack table, she instructed Kim to go check the bathrooms for Kylie while she walked over to Jordan.

"Hey!" Jordan seemed to brighten up at the sight of her approaching him.

"Hey Jordan, where's Kylie?" she asked him looking around.

"Uh, she had to go to the bathroom."

Timberly took out her phone to find a message from Kim saying she wasn't in the bathroom. But the exit door nearby was open and she was going outside to check.

"How are things between you and Kylie?" She asked a second time making Jordan feel uneasy.

"Tim … what's going on?"

Timberly pursed her lips, looked down at her shoes and then looked up at him and took him to a quieter corner.

"I need to show you something Jordan." She told him, but he stared at her stoic and silent.

She finally showed him the photo, but his reaction to it was nothing she expected.

Jordan stared at the photo for a while before handing back her phone.

"I've had my doubts about her- - been having them for a while now. Starting from the time I went to visit her at her job but didn't find her there a couple of times. I never said anything because I expected her to tell me … I guess I should've confronted her about it." He said as he crossed his arms and leaned heavily against the wall behind him.

"Then why didn't you?" She asked incredulously.

"I dunno, I guess – maybe I was in denial that she wasn't right for me, I really liked her Tim." His voice cracked at the last few words.

She felt her heart break a little, seeing her best friend in pain. She neared him and placed a hand over his folded arms.

"She doesn't deserve you." She told him.

Her phone beeped, and it was a message from Kim telling them to come outside to the parking lot.

By the time they reached the parking lot, they found Kylie standing motionless, her shoulders slumped as a boy walked away from her and got into his car and drove away.

She turned around to enter the auditorium but froze in her tracks when she saw Jordan and Timberly standing behind her. Fear welled up inside of her at the thought of her being caught.

Ike had managed to sneak in the auditorium and had seen how she had cozying up to Jordan, there was absolutely no excuse she could make up as her actions were crystal clear. He was being two-timed with another boy from a different school.

"Jordan! Uh- I … " Kylie stuttered but was stopped by Jordan.

"Save it Kylie! I already know what's going on."

Kylie looked from him, to Timberly who was standing beside him glaring at her, and back to Jordan who gave her the same look of anger.

"I don't know what you're talking about Jordan- that was just some guy asking for directions …"

"How much longer are you going to keep lying to me Kylie?! I know this has been going on for a while now!" His voice echoed through the dark parking lot.

Timberly started feeling uneasy at the situation and decided she'd better leave them alone. As she started walking towards the auditorium Kim came out to her from there.

"So, what happened?" Kim asked hoping the plan worked.

"Everything happened according to plan."

"Great! Now get this, when I went out to look for Kylie I heard some noise like breaking glass coming from the parking lot. I saw someone break that car with a baseball bat before running away."

Kim pointed to a battered car parked near the end of the lot.

Timberly's eyes widened when she recognized the car. "I think I know whose car that is!" she said before rushing back into the auditorium looking for Stinky.

A few minutes later Stinky, Arnold, Sid and her brother came outside to inspect the car.

"Aw, man!" Stinky whined as he fell to his knees.

The windshield and front lights were broken, one of the side mirrors has fallen from its place, the bumper clung by a few rusty screws … the damage was mostly on the front side of the car.

"Who could've done this?" Arnold asked incredulous.

"I couldn't see the person who did this, they were wearing their hood over their head and sunglasses. As soon they saw me they ran away." Kim explained.

"I'm calling the police." Helga said taking out her phone.

"What were you doing out here anyway?" Gerald asked his sister.

"Long story." Timberly sighed as she looked at her friend lashing out at Kylie before walking away leaving her standing in her spot, motionless with shock.

It was finally over, Kylie would no longer be in their lives and she and Jordan could hang out like they used to.

So why was she feeling so bad?


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

February 2013

"Wow Helga, I had no idea you went to therapy in third grade." Arnold said to me, his voice was a mixture of genuine concern and disappointment. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

_Oh my sweet, flaxen-haired angel …_

I looked down at my hands folded over the table.

"It just never came up." I admitted with a small shrug. "What with finding your parents, and you moving away with them- then you came back and … I was just happy you came back. All I wanted to do was think of nothing else than just be with you and not care about the past or what's waiting for us in the future."

As we sat there at our table in the crowded bar filled with people chatting and laughing, I felt disconnected from all of that; at that moment it felt like everyone left and it was just me and Arnold sitting there. Talking like old times, I felt my cheeks burn and my heart beat faster like I did on our first-ever-date over eight years ago.

February 2006

"It's like he just up and left, it's not like him!" Stinky said disbelievingly.

Eugene never came the next week, or the week after that, or any of the weeks that followed.

Arnold threw a pebble in the water at they hung out by Pier-7 a month after his last visit to Eugene's place.

"Knowing Eugene he'd probably throw some big, extravagant, going away party and invite everyone in school." Curly chuckled.

Stinky sighed as he rubbed his temples, "Wilikers! These last two weeks were messy! First my car gets battered, then Eugene disappears … what next?"

Arnold threw another pebble this time harder.

"His mom seemed real shady when Arnold and I went over to check on him." Sid said licking on his chocolate and vanilla ice cream. "Right Arnold?"

"Can we just drop the subject already? He's gone! He left without saying goodbye! Let's leave it at that." Arnold exploded abruptly leaving everyone in silence.

Gerald stood up from his spot and went over and stood by Arnold's side placing an arm over the blonde boy's shoulders.

"Look y'all, Arnold's right. Eugene's gone that's done with- we ain't sure if the brother's ever comin' back but sitting here wonderin' _why?_ Ain't never gonna bring him back."

The boys nodded their heads and agreed to let bygones be bygones.

Arnold sighed, "Guys, I'm sorry. I just- I can't believe he left us."

"How about we let off some steam and go shoot some hoops?" Park suggested- standing up from his spot, brushing the back of his pants from the dust.

"I'm with you." Curly piped. "I need to relax a little from all that studying for the SATs."

"Wait? When's that?" Harold was obviously clueless earning laughs from the boys.

"I'll go over to my place to get the ball." Sid told them and ran to his house nearby.

.

When Sid reached his home he noticed the front door was unlocked which was pretty unusual since his dad wasn't supposed to be home at that hour, and whether anyone was home or not, the front door was never left unlocked considering the type of neighborhood he lived in wasn't safe for that.

Cautiously opening the door, Sid scanned the place as he grabbed the baseball bat next to the door and readied himself in case someone jumped at him. He was just about to let his guard down thinking his dad must've forgotten to lock the door (which was already strange on its own) until he heard noise coming from one of the bedrooms and rushed upstairs to his father's bedroom, only to find his father on the bed with another woman.

.

"Where's Sid? It's been over half an hour already!" Harold groaned as he kicked a pebble while he and the boys waited for Sid to come from his house with their ball.

"Let's go check on him." Stinky suggested feeling something wasn't right.

They reached Sid's house and rang the doorbell only to be greeted by Ray who quickly opened the door thinking it was his son. His face full of trouble and worry.

"You alright Ray?" Stinky asked getting concerned.

Meanwhile Sid sat alone in the treehouse trying to let what he'd seen sink into his mind. Things were going great between his parents, he even believed there was a chance they would get back together again and they'd be a family like they used to.

Sid sighed, pushing his head back against the wooden wall of the treehouse. Who was he kidding? His parents divorced for a reason, his mom's disease shouldn't guilt his father into returning back to her again.

He flipped his phone open to check if Rhonda had returned his calls.

Where could she have been?

.

Rhonda huffed and tapped her foot impatiently as her mom took her time picking out ball gowns for the upcoming cotillion.

She had forgotten her cellphone at home and they've been at the mall for over an hour, who knows how many texts or calls she must've gotten in that hour?

"Mom could we go already?" She asked impatiently "I already picked out the dress, what are you looking for?"

"Rhonda, this is the _Cotillion_ we're talking about. You can't just pick out a dress and go." Brooke made a dismissive movement with her hand. "We need to put a little more effort."

"I've picked out my dress over two months ago mom! I've been planning for this day since junior high!"

"Rhonda! You're making a scene." Brooke looked sternly at her daughter.

Rhonda sighed and rolled her eyes, "Can we _please_ hurry this up mom?" she pleaded through clenched teeth.

.

He was so cute- - the way his thin lips were always smiling, the way his baby blue eyes looked into her dark brown eyes, the way his arm flexed as he nonchalantly smoothed his ash blonde hair for the fifth time, that Timberly was starting to believe that he was doing it on purpose.

Russell has been talking and hanging around Timberly for days since the dance, not that she minded, he was a sweet guy and she was starting to really like him. So the moment he asked her out, she didn't have to think twice about saying yes.

Timberly needed something to lift her mood since the drama at the dance, and Jordan was still feeling the pain from his breakup with Kylie and was busying himself with starting early on projects to taking extracurricular activities. Russell was the perfect mood lifter, he practically emanated positive vibes.

This date would've been perfect had Jamie-O not decide to tag along. Thankfully, he sat at the stool farthest from the couple at Slaussen's so Russell wouldn't notice. At least Russell was oblivious to what was happening, so that didn't make him feel as uncomfortable as she was feeling.

"So how's Jordan?" Russell asked suddenly, sipping on his milkshake and raising his thin, tent-shaped eyebrows at her innocently.

"Where did that come from?" Timberly asked, taken aback by her date's sudden concern with her friend.

"I dunno you just seemed a little- - like you're not here, mentally- - and I found out a couple days back he broke up with Kylie and there was a rumor going around that he caught her cheating on him … so, you're probably bummed about what happened to him because, you know, you're friends and stuff."

"I- I am, but … did you know Kylie? Like really know her before?"

Russell released his lips from the plastic straw and sighed, "I sort of dated her once."

"Sort of dated?" Timberly didn't know if she wanted to feel surprised or disappointed first.

"Yeah." He sighed. "She goes out with guys, a few times- but never makes it official. Then after weeks or months of making you feel like there's something special between you and her, she leaves you. According to her, she wasn't ready for anything serious yet since she was just healing from a tough breakup.

"I called her _Shooting Star_." He scoffed. "Because I found out that she's done the same thing to half my friends."

Russell brightened up, "Sorry, I didn't mean to dampen the mood. Wanna go watch a movie?"

Timberly agreed, all that's been done has been done. Kylie was outed for what she really was: a liar and a cheat. Jordan needed to heal and she needed to live in the moment.

.

"So nobody found out who trashed Stinko's car?" I asked Arnold as we sat together on the roof of the Sunset Arms watching the sunset … no pun intended.

"Nope."

"It's Regina, I'm certain. Car trashing always has crazy ex-girlfriends written all over them."

"Some of the guys think so too."

I looked down at my worn-out, pink converse and turned to Arnold who looked ahead the setting sun, his face bathed in its orange light, making him look more like the angel he really was.

"And … no word from Eugene yet?" I asked a little carefully.

"No." Arnold answered me, slumping his head and shoulders forward over his knees. "I try not to think about it because I can't find any reasonable answer to all the questions I wish I could've asked him! His cellphone's out of service, he won't reply to my e-mails, and his family moved out of their home!"

"Criminy! It's like he committed some kind of crime or something!" I said incredulous.

"Even that makes more sense than all the theories I made up in my head." He told me, running his fingers through his hair.

I placed my right arm over his shoulders, and starting massaging the top of his right arm. Laying my head over his, I thought for a minute and remembered something from the past.

"What about Gerald's friend? The one who helped you save the neighborhood before? … something slipper?"

Arnold raised his head in realization.

"Yes! Fuzzy Slippers! I'm sure he can help us!" he exclaimed, standing up and I did the same. "You-are-awesome!" He said to me, grabbing my face and planting a hard kiss on my lips."

"Wow!" I said as I pushed back some loose strands of my hair. "You should give me kisses like those more often."

"I will." He promised. "But first, let's head over to Gerald's place and see if we can contact fuzzy slippers."

.

As soon as she got home, Rhonda rushed to her bedroom and grabbed her phone which was on her bed.

She flipped it open and found nine missed calls from Sid and a text from him that said: Where are you? I need to talk to you.

Rhonda quickly pressed his number and he picked up after one ring.

"Rhonda." He replied, his voice was tired and sad. "Where were you?"

"I'm sorry baby, I was out with my mom and I forgot my phone at home. What's wrong?"

"I need you Rhonda." His voice cracked. "Everything's falling apart."

"Ok, ok. I'm coming, just tell me where you are right now."

Rhonda reached the old treehouse, which she was surprised was still standing.

"Sid! You there?" She called from under the tree and Sid looked out from one of the windows. "I'm coming."

As soon as she made it to the treehouse, Sid hugged her and started sobbing. Telling her how tired he was and how alone he felt. How he actually believed his life was finally getting better but now it was falling apart, he told her about his dad and how stupid he felt for actually thinking his parents will finally get back together after almost ten years of being divorced.

Rhonda's heart broke at her boyfriend's misery. She felt that telling him that everything was going to be ok felt like a lie, because how would she know?

Sid was going through so much, she wished she could take it all for him. Just so he could be at peace. He was such a good boy, he deserved better than what was happening in his life.

"I don't wanna go back home." Sid later said to her- his head lay heavily on her right shoulder. The small space felt peaceful when Sid finally calmed down.

"It's almost midnight babe, you need to go somewhere to rest." Rhonda insisted to him in the gentlest way she could.

Sid sighed heavily, he had nowhere to go. He couldn't go back to his dad, if he went over to his mom who was staying at his aunt's place, they'd barrage him with questions he didn't feel like answering. Harold's mom was an issue- Sid knew she only means well when she'd _mother_ him, but it was too much for him. Stinky's house was too small, Arnold's was too crowded … there was one person left.

Lorenzo lay on his bed in the dark, both his hands rested under his head as he stared blankly at the ceiling of his bedroom.

The mansion felt empty whenever his mother left on one of her trips to visit his grandmother. It was a large mansion vacated by him and his mother and a few staff, with rooms that were left untouched save for a few days in a year when the whole family came to visit them. But despite the vastness of his place, his mother's presence gave it a homely feel- kind of like the houses of the boys he's known since middle school.

Whenever his mother went on her trips, Lorenzo was allowed to have sleepovers. With no siblings of his own, it was fun when the boys came over … and he'd feel like he was a normal boy, like he was one of them. But for some reason, as the years went by, he interacted less with them, save for Sid who was like the brother he never had.

His cellphone started ringing, breaking the silence in the dark room and startling him a bit. Lorenzo grabbed his phone, Sid's name appeared on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lorenzo, I hope I didn't wake you up." Lorenzo noticed that Sid seemed drained.

"No- no … Sid are you ok?"

Lorenzo heard Sid take a deep breath and let out a sigh. "No. It's been a hell of a day and I just need somewhere to crash. Can I come over? Just for tonight."

"Ya no problem."

After Lorenzo came by to pick Sid up, Rhonda went back home. She had only just noticed that the front part of her expensive flats were ruined, possibly from her climbing the tree. But for once she didn't care, her mind was too busy thinking about her boyfriend's situation.

.

**Author's Note:** Has anyone heard the news about The Jungle Movie coming out? Finally after over 12 years Hey Arnold's back on the Big Screen!

SandraStrickland: That's usually the case isn't it? In movies at least. Parties are perfect breeding grounds for high school drama and scandals, lol.  
Tim feels bad because someone decided to hurt her best friend who was the sweetest person she'd ever known in school. Plus, Kylie kinda brought out her dark side, when she set up Kylie for humiliation by letting her get caught by the two guys she was two-timing, at the same time.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: Hope you guys are just as glad as I am to be back! I apologize for being gone for so long but the circumstances were against me, one of them being writer's block. I've noticed a few new followers/readers, so glad you enjoyed my story enough to follow. Happy reading! **

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Chapter 17

February 2006

"He says he can try and track any of Eugene's actions over the internet but it'll probably take a couple of days, maybe more." Gerald turned his revolving chair from his computer to face me and Arnold.

"I guess all we can do now is wait." Arnold turned to me, giving me a hopeful smile which I returned.

"You two up for some of Bigal's hot chocolate?" Gerald suggested, standing up from his seat.

"Where's Phoebe?" I asked.

Ever since Phoebe and Gerald became official I've been seeing less and less of her, let alone speak to her. It wasn't like I had all of her to myself in the first place; over the years she started to be busy honing her skills, preparing for college which the way I saw it was by having less of a life to prepare for her future.

I was surprised she managed to get a boyfriend despite it all!

"Piano lessons- or study group, I forget." Gerald said, rubbing the back of his neck dis-heartedly. "She's doing so much I can barely keep up! All I know is that she's busy- always."

"Look Gerald, I know Phoebe meant no harm. But you know her, she always has to be prepared and ahead." I explained.

"I know, I know." Gerald gave an understanding smile. "She's doin' the right thing, I don't think I've prepared enough for college."

"No normal person ever prepares enough for college relax," I said to him. "Now let's make like normal kids and head to Bigal's."

.

We entered Bigal's café to find Rhonda, Sid and Lorenzo sitting together at one of the tables.

"Hey guys." Arnold greeted when we neared their table.

"Have a seat." Lorenzo invited, scooting over to make some space on the sofa seat.

"Thanks man." Gerald sat beside Lorenzo, followed by me, then Arnold.

"Where's Phoebe?" Rhonda asked.

"Being Phoebe." I responded simply. Rhonda smirked, knowing exactly what I meant.

"Guys," she said. "Could you please tell Sid there's nothing wrong with escorting me to the cotillion next week?"

I snorted. "We could, if we've actually been to one."

"I can't even spell cotillion." Gerald backed me up.

"Why don't you wanna go Sid?" Arnold asked him. Obviously being the only one taking Rhonda's situation seriously.

"Arnold, do you know the type of people that go there? I mean, look at me!" Sid leaned back in his chair and pointed at himself with both his hands.

Rhonda rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Oh please! Half those boys have the manners of hobos."

She said as she snaked her arms over his slightly, muscled right arm coyly placed her head over his shoulder.

"You're more of a class-act than most boys made of money." She purred like a cat showing affection to its owner.

A smile formed on my lips as I looked at the couple looking fondly at each other, as if nothing else around them mattered anymore.

I instinctively looked over at Lorenzo who was sitting on Sid's left side. He shifted his attention away from the couple, looking out the café's large window beside him pretending to focus on something outside. Lorenzo had a solemn look on his face that reminded me of my own a few years back… before Arnold became mine.

I hoped Lorenzo would get over Rhonda soon, because it seemed like there was nothing in this world that could come between Sid and her.

.

February 2013

"And over here, will be my office."

Arnold was giving me a little tour of the boarding house which was almost complete. I was really impressed with the way he fixed up this place.

The Sunset Arms felt more like home to me; even more than my own home. I've been coming to this place (with or without his knowledge) for so long. The memories brought a smile to my face which Arnold noticed as I was distracted, looking into space.

"Helga?"

I snapped back into the present after hearing him call my name—probably for the tenth time, who knew how long I've spaced out?

"Huh?" I blinked twice abruptly turning to him.

"I know I did a good job with the place, but I don't think it's anything to be marveled at." He chuckled at his little joke.

I smiled fondly at him, "I was just remembering the times I spent here- with you."

Arnold still doesn't know about the times I snuck into the boarding house before we actually started dating. I was so grateful that his grandparents never mentioned it to him! Especially after that time when I fell from the empty space behind the retractable couch in Arnold's room and onto the table which they were having their breakfast on- in their kitchen! I was lucky nothing was seriously broken … beside the kitchen table.

"Those were good times weren't they?" He asked as he looked longingly into my eyes.

I gave him a loving smile before leaning in to kiss him on his lips.

"So you wanna do this again?" he asked coquettishly.

I smirked and said, "I don't see why we shouldn't."

.

February 2006

'_There goes the last of the tapioca,'_ I thought to myself as the girl standing in front of me in the line at the cafeteria grabbed the last tapioca.

"Helga," Arnold came in from behind me. "Sheena has something to tell us about Eugene, she needs us all at the table over there."

Arnold pointed to a table at the end of the cafeteria where Phoebe, Gerald, Rhonda, Sid, and everyone we've known from PS 118. Something about the looks on their faces told me something wasn't right.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"She said she'll tell us when we're all gathered." Arnold shrugged.

I looked from Arnold to the table and back at him.

"You go ahead, I'll be there in a sec."

I rummaged through my pockets searching for my lunch money but I couldn't find anything. I realized that I had to give up and go without lunch today as the cashier lady started to drum her fingers impatiently over the counter.

Today was one of those days when everything started out wrong … and was definitely going to end bad. I knew these days … all it took for a bad was one little bad thing to happen when the day started for it to end badly.

I hit my toe on the bed post first thing in the morning, hadn't prepared for a pop quiz today, forgotten my lunch money, and now-

"Overdosed on sleeping pills!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"You mean like suicide?" Rhonda asked.

"More like attempted suicide." Sid corrected.

Sheena's aunt Shelly has a friend who works in ER that recognized Eugene who had come in due to an overdose a week before he disappeared from school.

"Why would Eugene do that? I mean –how!" Stinky asked in disbelief.

Sheena started crying, telling him how she wished she knew why in between sobs.

Nadine and Rhonda took her away to the bathroom.

"It's always the quiet ones," Sid said matter-of-factly.

I couldn't focus on anything for the rest of the day at school, my mind was too shocked and filled with questions to function.

.

"I guess I should've seen that," Arnold said to me as we walked home from school, "I mean Eugene's flipped out before, but- "

Arnold sighed, probably just as frustrated as I was of this whole Eugene situation.

"Nobody could've seen that coming." I mumbled hopelessly.

I think what disturbed me the most about this incident was how Eugene was already at his breaking point.

_Mr. When life gives you lemons_\- that's what I called him, in my head and in my journal entries. He seemed like he could handle whatever life threw at him. I sort of admired him for it.

"Wanna go over to Bigal's for some hot chocolate?" Arnold asked giving me a weak smile and a light squeeze on my hand.

I shrugged my shoulders and agreed, suddenly craving the warm sensation of hot chocolate as if it were the cure for this horrible day.

.

.

.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

March 2006

The thing about being the rich girl at a public school was that you stood out and Rhonda liked that. She didn't mind the extra attention. What was the point of being the most rich and beautiful girl in school if you couldn't get everyone's attention?

Another thing she liked about being in a public school was the way all the other kids lived their lives. How they had to work for something they wanted, it was admirable actually. Which was more than she could say for the privileged snobs she was surrounded with at the moment.

"Ms. Wellington-Lloyd," A voice asked from behind her, "Have you found a partner for the cotillion yet?"

It was Mrs. Sawyer the organizer of the cotillion. She's already asked Rhonda the same question before- a hundred times before to be exact.

"Not yet Mrs. Sawyer, but I promise by the end of this week."

"Alright, call me as soon as you find a date." She tried to suppress a sigh and walked away.

Realizing that there was no point in her staying there without a partner she decided to leave, running into Lorenzo on her way out.

"Hello Rhonda, are you leaving so soon?"

"Uh, yeah. I just- I'm a little tired."

"Where's Sid?"

She sighed, "Anywhere but here."

"Still hasn't changed his mind yet huh?"

Rhonda sighed dejectedly, "He's so stubborn!"

"I don't blame him, even _I_ can't stand these fools sometimes." He sneered looking sideways at some of the kids who were heading towards them to enter the hall.

.

Arnold and I were walking aimlessly around the city when we ran into Mr. Chicken, or what's left of it.

"I can't believe they haven't moved that broken sign yet!" Arnold exclaimed.

The big chicken sign that almost fell on Sid a decade ago was still there, lying in a broken heap in front of the now closed down restaurant.

"Didn't Sid ever press charges?" I wondered.

Arnold shrugged his shoulder, "The boy was nine when it happened."

"Still, you'd expect something like that from him."

"You're thinking Curly." He opposed.

"Na, Curly would've set the place on fire." I half-joked.

Before Arnold could say anything his phone started ringing. It was Gerald telling him that we needed to meet him at his place ASAP.

"What's up?" I asked Arnold after he ended the call.

"Fuzzy Slippers found Eugene's online secret journal."

.

"You sure it's Eugene's?" I asked as me and the boys stared at the online journal website that's yet to be opened.

"How did Fuzzy Slippers find it?" Arnold wondered.

"I know as much as the computer world as you man. Fuzzy knows everything about the internet world and underworld." Gerald replied. "Only one way to find out."

Gerald went ahead and clicked one of the latest files open. What we read will probably haunt us for the rest of our lives.

Eugene talks about not being able to handle the pain from his breakup with Derek and having to keep his sexuality a secret.

He had written that entry a couple of days before he disappeared from our lives …

"Who's Derek?" I asked despite the name seeming familiar to me.

"Sounds familiar. Does he go to our school?" Gerald wondered.

"Wasn't he the sub for Mrs. Hauk at the beginning of the semester?" Arnold guessed.

"Damn, Eugene hooked up with the sub?" Gerald rubbed the back of his neck.

I couldn't help but imagine how jealous Rhonda would be if she found out that nerdy Eugene dated an older guy before she did.

We read on, and every entry closer to the last entry was more depressing than the one before. I stopped reading midway.

"Nobody should know about this," Gerald turned to me in his revolving chair, "not even Phoebe. Threes already a crowd."

"I agree with Gerald," Arnold said, "there's a reason he left Hillwood without telling anyone."

I nodded my head without protest.

_No one._

.

Sid fixed his suit jacket as he checked himself out in the store's full length mirror.

"Looking good man," Lorenzo complimented.

Sid turned to Lorenzo who sat on a chair behind him, "Thanks for helping me out man. I really appreciate it."

Lorenzo shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, I'm just glad you finally agreed to go to the cotillion."

Sid looked back at his reflection and sighed, "Is it too late to back down?"

"Look Sid, I know you're nervous about this but do it for your girl. If it makes you feel any better, Rhonda can't stand them either."

Sid's shoulders slumped as he stared at his reflection on the full-length mirror

"I owe her an apology."

"Apologize by giving her a good time." Lorenzo stood up and placed a hand on Sid's shoulder, "Now let's go get something to eat."

.

Arnold and I had a long, quiet walk back to my house. My mind was ringing with the words that I read from Eugene's online journal.

"You ok Helga?" Arnold asked concernedly as if he could read my thoughts.

"I'm not sure," I honestly told him. "I never expected Eugene would be so- self-destructive!"

_That was usually synonymous with me._

"I hate to admit it, but I expected that from him. Back when we were still in PS 118, he flipped his lid when he found out his favorite movie star wasn't really the hero he was portrayed on TV."

"I guess there was more to Eugene than the clumsy jinx we thought we knew all those years."

Arnold lightly squeezed my hand, "Do you wanna go get something to eat?"

I smiled as I leaned my head on his shoulder, "Ok."

.

**Author's Note:** And I'm finally back, again. Thanks for everyone's patience and the new followers eager to know the rest of my story. To be honest, I've just been having trouble dealing with anxiety attacks that leave me drained for a while. But I am in the process of eliminating it from my life for good by eating healthy and meditating more, it's ridiculous how I have to deal with life as an adult after a traumatic childhood but I'm getting there =) so please keep me in your prayers and send me good vibes every once in a while.  
I'll be posting the next chapter soon enough, wait for it ;)


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